Up in Flames
by Ghost Yeti
Summary: [Sequel to Remnants of a Friend][MidLink] After Midna and Link tie the knot, and Link is named a king of the Twilight Realm, issue rise up between the Twili and him. And as Midna and Link's relationship progresses, the Twili only bombard it and have a goal to demolish it. Will Link, Midna, and their budding family be able to overcome the challenges thrown at them?
1. Prologue

The slight breeze that swept through the opened balcony sent a chill down the Hylian's back. In the land where he stood, he was the only Hylian, the rest were of Twili. And since the Hylians had banished the Twili to this dark realm, an ample amount of resentment has flourished between the races. Hearing the chatter of the Twili from outside made him sweat – sooner or later, he would have to walk out there and speak to the large mass. Any other occasion, he would be fine, but under the circumstances, he greatly feared his life.

A light dweller, in the Realm of Twilight? No, it's a ludicrous idea; irrational, preposterous, unreasonable – the idea was simply crazy, never to happen. Yet, there he stood, preparing to make a speech to the Twili who looked at him as the oppressor. All except for the queen, of course, as she was his new wife. She was one of the few who didn't see him as the crude being like his ancestors were. Now, he had to introduce himself to his new subjects as their king, the light dweller. He was expecting much negative feedback. Threats. Lashing out. The need to lock all entrances to the palace. It was all highly probable that most was going to happen to him.

All was expected to begin within the next few minutes. The queen stood in her balcony, speaking down to the mass below her. "Greetings, my citizens of the Twilit Realm! I've been told that you all were informed of my week's absence of recent. And now that I have returned, I am here to inform you all that I will now go as the Twilight _Queen_. Over my leave, I have been married to the man whom you will call your _King_. Thus, I shall introduce him, your new king, the hero of twilight, Link." And with a quick sling of her arm, she had directed the attention of the crowd to the doorway behind her.

Taking a deep breath, the blond took a step forward, out of the shelter of the castle, and out into the crisp air above the Twili. Attempting to seem as welcoming as possible, he greeted the mass with a grin and waved his hand gently in the air. The clamor began strong, but fell short rather quickly. The roars and cheers turned to nothing. The waving hands halted, falling back to the Twili's sides.

Link took in a breath and his eyes flickered from the mass of Twili, to Midna, and back. Still, he kept a smile a grin on his face, as it was best to please his new subjects. However, his friendly appearance faded as shouts and curses were slung up at Link. Threats of all kinds were thrown, mostly ones of death; in fear, Midna reached for the blonde's hand and dragged him back into the castle with her.

Releasing him, Midna peered out the window, watching as the small army began to calm the crowd. Her attention was taken away as she heard a thud against the floor. Whipping her head around, she saw Link was leaned against the wall, in a small ball on the floor, head in his knees.

Kneeling down beside him, the Twili rested her hand upon his shoulder. "Link, it's alright. You can calm down. They're not going to hurt you or me," she spoke in a soft voice, attempting to calm her obviously panicking husband.

Lifting his head, Links' gaze barely met with the queen's. "I'm sorry I caused all of this, Middy."

"Queen Midna! This is absurd!" The delegate shouted, slamming his fist on his desk. "We cannot have a _light dweller_ be our king! They are the oppressors! We cannot have a minority rule the majority!"

Standing from her seat and pointing to Link, Midna's voiced cracked. "Well… he doesn't have to have power! He is still my husband, our king, but in this office. No power. If that suits you well enough."

Although disappointed with the proposal, Link nodded, approving of the idea. He knew it was for the best of the ruling party if he were to step down. If the Twili ruled their own, the lesser the chance of uprising there would be, rather than if he were to take any position in the governmental system. It would end the best for Midna, as well. He didn't want to get his wife into any further disputes with the existing advisors.

While only a few of the advisors nodded their heads, the twelve gathered into a small huddle, the remnants of small discussion lingering above their heads. Giving small glances back at the Queen, the eldest of them broke free while the rest aligned themselves at his side. Clearing his throat, the advisor knocked at his chest.

"We approve of the proposal," He spoke.

With a sigh of relief, Midna grinned back at Link, who was only pleased they didn't banish him.

"However, we ask that you follow a set of rules. Thus, not to upset the Twili community, due to the fact that Light and Shadow are _not_ supposed to mix, and yet, we have you two."

With a sheepish grin, Link hid his head under his hands whilst joining Midna at her side.

Glancing over at the other council members, the lead took initiative to speak. "We may or may not add rules over time, as these were created only moments ago." Taking a breath, the Twili began to read the first obligation, "Although, titled king, the light dweller will have no executive action amongst our army.

"I can live by that," Link whispered. In all honestly, he didn't want to rule an army of Twili who held weapons and hated light dwellers.

With a nod of his head, the delegate continued to read down his list. "Next, as the prophecies have stated that light and shadow cannot mix, the council has forbid you two of performing acts of love in the public."

"And third, as of now, there shall be no offspring of you two. We cannot have a beast of light and shadow. If it were to happen, it would result in the termination of the child, and the banishment of both of you." The elder glared at both Link and Midna. "Am I understood?" Both of them nodded in response to him. "Good. The advising council will now dismiss itself. Have a glowing evening, Queen Midna."

Once the Twili Queen was confirmed that the room was just to herself and Link, she grabbed his hand, and purposely began to exit, retreating back to their suite. "Link, we need to talk."

"I'm listening." Link raised his brows, glancing at Midna with some concern.

Once they reached their room, they quickly entered, and the queen shut the door behind them. "Sit down. This is rather… life-changing important, and it regards one of the rules that we were just given."

"What about it?" Link pulled Midna and himself onto their bed as he wrapped his arms around her. They laid on their sides, facing one another.

"We may have already broken one." Midna sighed.

"What do you mean, we haven't done anything?" Link furrowed his brows, also raising his voice in confusion.

"The third one, Link." The queen sighed, lowering her gaze from the blond.

Silent for only a moment, Link took a breath and spoke again. "When they say offspring, they mean children, right?" His question only to be confirmed with a simple nod of the queen's head; following, with a sigh, he laid his head back and closed his eyes.

Copying Link, Midna closed her eyes as well. She didn't bother to open them when she heard the blond shuffle slightly on the sheets. But then she felt his burning gaze direct at her stomach. Blinking once or twice, Midna grinned slightly.

"Link?" she whispered, leaning her head closer to his. "It's only a maybe, okay? Don't get your hopes up." Her grin faded as her voice grew melancholy. It was obvious to her that they both had a shared dream.

With a sigh, Link shrugged. "I know, I know. It just, I really hope it's real… It would make me so happy."

Snuggling closer to the Hylian, Midna planted her lips softly on his forehead. "I feel the same way. But, we'd have to watch out for the council members. I don't want him or her to end up dead."

Tilting his head up to look at his wife, Link threw off a smug grin. "They won't. I'll make sure of that. I'm the Hero of Twilight, nobody is going to hurt you, and whoever else may be in there." Wrapping his arms around Midna, he held her close while resting his lips in the crook of her neck.

While she giggled several times, entangling her fingers in his blond hair, Midna still whispered with a chilled tone. "I'm still scared about it, Link. There's only so much you and I can do."


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N** : **Hey guest reviewer! I saw all of your reviews (like I get an email each time I get a review!) - I really appreciate your suggestions and whatnot, but I do have my plot already planned out and things will fit in together as the story goes along :) If you have questions, don't be afraid to put them, though. And sorry it** ** _does_** **take a little bit for me to write/post the chapters, even on summer break! I actually have a lot of things going on - I try to write as much as I can!**

 **Anyways, enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

Feeling a nudge at her side, the queen began to feel the chilled night air envelop her skin while noticing his warm skin brush up against hers. And then she felt another tap on her skin. Opening her eyes, she turned her head to face the blonde next to her. "Link? Are you still up?" All Midna had heard was a quick breath back, as if his tapping against her was a subliminal action whilst he was falling to slumber.

Eyes shooting wide, Link looked away and slightly frowned. "Yes, sorry Mids. I've just been thinking too much about what you said and the council's new… rules."

Erasing the distance between her and Link, Midna shrugged her shoulders slightly. "What about it? It's obviously keeping you up." Quickly, she wrapped her free arm around his side and ran her fingers lightly across his back.

With a sigh, Link shrugged his shoulders, wrapping his fingers in the loose sheets next to him. "I don't know. It's just… why _do_ we have to listen to the council? Why you? You're the Queen of the realm, they're just the council. Why can't you just… can't you rid of them like you did to that one guard? Remember, you sent him off into eternal darkness after what he did? Why can't you do that… to them." While his ideas remained firm, Link's eyes flickered away from Midna's.

In attempt to keep her husband's eyes from drifting off to she knew where, Midna gently placed her hands on his cheeks and intently gazed into his eyes. "In all honesty, I wish I _could_ just rid of them like I did that one. But, I can't."

"Why can't you… You're the queen."

With her eye contact failing to stay strong, Midna closed her eyes. "Well, they're part of the ruling power. If I were to exterminate them, the citizens would trust me less. They're already wary now that they have a light dweller in power."

Scrunching his brows, Link's voice raised slightly, indication his unsure understanding of her answer. "But… they saw me, when I came and we rid of Zant. I helped save them. Why would they hate me?"

With a mellow look in her eyes, Midna shook her head. "I just believe they're afraid of you, because as far as they know, you're the king. And for hundreds of years our people were oppressed by light dwellers. I just, I honestly think they're afraid of you."

Staying silent, Link nodded his head, proceeding to pull Midna closer to him. Again, she felt his look shift down towards her abdomen. With an uncomfortable movement, Midna pushed herself up against her husband, resulting in his sight being directed right to her face. While a small pout grew on Link's lips, Midna quieted them by resting hers against his. Although the heat growing on their cheeks flooded them with a bouquet of emotions, Midna knew she still had to remain serious on the topic.

"I know you're rather happy about the news," Midna whispered, keeping her voice down while wandering into Link's eyes. "But, I really don't know if it's true yet. I'm only saying that it's a possibility. I really won't know for another week and a half or so."

Link simply hummed a response, signaling that he took in all that she said. "Well, I guess we'll just wait 'n see then." But he paused, with a rather distraught look on his face. "If it actually happens, will we hide it from the council? Or do we tell them?"

Taking a deep breathe, Midna shook her head as she exhaled. "I supposed we can hide it. Most of their terms in office are ending, so hopefully the new members will be easy to explain the circumstances to."

"Simple enough," Link murmured, obviously losing hope in the subject. Rolling back onto his side, he pulled Midna as close to him as he could and shut his eyes. "We probably should get back to sleep. We have a lot of planning to do tomorrow." Planting a small kiss on his wife's forehead, Link smiled and slowly began to drift back into the dream world.

* * *

 _"Midna…. Midna…." A airy voice haunted, repeating the Twili's name over and over and over. "Midna… Midna… Pay attention to me." For hours, hours it repeated her name. It knew she was in denial of its existence. Saying it was only a 'possibility'. She knew the truth. It was alive and beating inside her. Whispering into her head; eating away at the integrity of her word. "Midna… Midna…." It whispered. What a night's rest it caused – none._

* * *

Waking with a dull grown, Midna stretched her arms out, feeling the empty space surrounding her. All before noticing the place in her bed beside her was empty. With a jump, the Twili scanned the room for her husband; most of the Twili were still unsure with his presence, and she didn't want any harm done to him or them. Springing up from the bed, Midna threw on a robe and began to rush to the other rooms of the royal's suite.

The other basic rooms had no sign of the Hylian. But, a frustrated grumble caught her ears, and she quickly scattered through the suite to find its source. Upon entering the room, however, Midna was sent into a fit of laughter at the sight before her. Sprawled out amongst the floor he laid. Papers spread out with designs, beside them a hammer, nails, and a few scraps of wood.

Kneeling down beside him, she brushed hair away from his face, giggling at his face all squished up against the floor. "Link," Midna whispered down into the Hylian's ear. "It's time to get up."

With a faint adjustment to his position, Link groaned, turning up to face Midna simultaneously. Yawning, the blond's eyes adjusted to the faint morning glow. Once the Twili's silhouette was visible to him, Link sheepishly grinned, cheeks flushing red. "G'morning Mids," the Hylian yawned while speaking.

Leaning down and melting his lips to hers, Midna wrapped her hands underneath her husband's back and helped sit him up beside her. Pulling Link up to her stature, she once again brushed his stringy bangs away from his face. "Care to tell me what you were up to in the middle of the night?"

With a slight jump, Link's eyes widened and cheeks filled with a rosy hue. "Well I… uh…" Quickly, he glanced over at the pile near him. "I was building something… I guess. Heh heh…" Sheepishly laughing, he rubbed the nape of his neck with his hand as his face grew hot."

Glancing away from her suspicious husband, Midna looked around at the mess he had created. With scraps of wood, hammer and nails, and a few pieces of a paper – this goal for creation was all too obvious. "What were you making?"

"Oh.. I don't know, I just couldn't sleep, I guess."

"You were making a crib, weren't you?" Midna sternly looked down at Link, her face rigid; unmoving.

Shocked with her answer, Link's eyes met with the ground while he could only sarcastically laugh. "I... I guess so."

With a sigh, Midna picked up the paper with the design of the small child's bed. "Link," she spoke with a balked tone. "I told you not to get your hopes up like this. I'm not even sure if it's going to happen. I'm only taking a guess because we did the thing."

Looking away, Link took a breath and exhaled slowly. "I know, I just, when you told me last night it hasn't left my mind I… I just… I was really hopin' it was real, y'know?" His eyes got lost in Midna's for only a spare moment before turning away. His face wrecked with distanglement; a slight frown to his lips and sadness salted into his eyes.

"Link, I know. I told you last night, though. We can't get too attached to something we don't even know will happen." _Lies_. Midna shivered a slight bit, her sudden movement catching Link's attention. Before she could speak again, her husband's arms wrapped themselves around her and hold her close.

"Are you cold?" He looked up at her with wide eyes.

"A slight bit."

"Well, how about we go get ready for the day, and then head down to the council building like we're supposed to?" Link grinned, trying to lighten her mood. "I bet being closer to the sols will be bit warmer, too."

Back in her room, Midna began to strip herself of her night's clothing while Link had done the same behind her. Once she lifted her top over her head, she felt a pair of warm hands rest themselves against her sides, and lips meeting with her neck. With a giggle, the Twili wrapped her arms around her partner's neck, placing her lips on his cheek. For as innocent as he had been, Midna was surprised that he had picked up so quickly on such notions.

"Link," the Twili groused into his ear. "We can't do this now; we have to go to the council meeting. We can't show up looking like messes."

With a slight groan, Link had backed away from his wife, allowing them to continue to prepare for the day. The Hylian garbed himself in gowns that Midna had set out for him. Apparently, they were the clothing of the royals of the Twili, only to be worn in sessions with the parliament and in public. Without a complaint, he fitted the garbs around his waist, tying the bands as tight as possible. The garments were rather loose fitted, similar to Midna's – showing off much skin, mainly the patterns on her skin.

Without the Twili markings, or without his typical build, he felt rather uncomfortable with the garment exposing his pale skin. Sighing, Link gave up on the robe and tidied his hair. Once dressed, he followed Midna out of the suite. Down the halls they found their way through the maze of the palace. Arriving at the parliament chamber, the two sat down in their seats, awaiting the appearance of the council.

"They'll show up eventually." Midna spoke straightly. "Once they all turn up, the servants will bring all of us a small meal and traditional tea to start the session. These early sessions only occur once a month. We'll typically have short sessions weekly in the evenings."

With a simple nod for acknowledgement, Link whispered, "Ah." However, he didn't appear all so interested with the council. Nor the sessions. The politics didn't really seem to appease to him. Link just sat there, vacant of emotion or concern.

Noticing his apathy, Midna tilted her head slightly and smirked in his direction. "You don't always have to be so pouty about all this, y'know." Her lips widened to a smile when she saw her husband's tiny jump and perplexed look at her. "Yeah, I know it's a bummer that the council agrees more with what Zant did what I used to think, rather than what I do now. But you can make fun of them _all_ you want and they can't do a single thing because you're named King."

With a small shrug, Link glanced down at his feet. "Yeah, but the council says I have no power."

"They never said you couldn't make fun of them."

Closing his eyes, Link chuckled lightly. "Well, then, they are the scum of the-" Quickly, he was cut off by the loud opening of the doors – the council members piling in.

After all twelve council members had taken their seating, the head stood and bowed to the queen. "Your majesty, shall the session start?" After she nodded, the council member motioned to the servants to bring out the light course.

The small dish sat in front was a soup like substance of a murky color. Link only assumed it was a traditional Twili dish. After a small prayer to the goddesses led by Midna, the small room began to eat at their small breakfast. After only a few spoons of the soup, Link pushed away his plate. It was rather bland, irksome, he could say, compared to Hylian food.

For several minutes, Link sat there and played with his thumbs, hoping nobody would notice he wasn't eating. He felt the stares burn into his head, though. It was one of the council members, he knew it. And the arrogant member would speak out eventually. Tightly, he shut his eyes, avoiding eye contact with anybody starting at him.

"So, 'King' Link, why aren't you eating the traditional dish?" One of the members sitting a few rows back spoke up. He stood and rested his hands on the table, a spiteful expression plaguing his face.

With a groan, Link looked up from his hands and directly at the member. "I'm not feeling my best today."

Several minutes of silence swam within the room as the council member stared a Link. "Come here," the Twili ordered, breaking the quiet tension in the room.

With a quick glance over to Midna for her approval, Link stood from his seat and went to the front of the room as the twili approached him. The twili gazed at him for a minute, but quickly grabbed at the robes, and easily pushed them off Link's shoulders. They fell to his waist while the belt at his lower abdomen held them up. The twili then quickly went to Link side, gripped him by the shoulder, and directed all the council members' attention towards him.

"Look at this! He calls himself the 'hero of twilight' yet looks like _this_! If here were a legendary hero chosen by his precious goddesses, he wouldn't be as scrawny or short!" The twili shouted, spitting as the words escaped his lips. His angered expression lightened bit when he felt Link's skin grow hot underneath his hand. Turning his head to him, he laughed and began to mock him, "Oh, are you _embarrassed_ that I'm calling about the truth about you? That you're a scrawny liar who refuses to eat? How pathetic." The twili grinned more when he saw Link's face cringe. "Oh, are you going to cry? How cowardly – a real man would never cry."

Link's eyes opened wide and instantly, he used his free hand to shove the twili's off of him. Turning towards him, he furrowed his brows and lined his hands up on the twili's shoulders. "So what if I cry. Hylians cry. Twili cry. Men cried when they were still babies. Everybody cries. Grow up." Taking a deep breath, he began to phrase his next point to be made. "Now, I _am_ the hero of twilight whether you like it or not. Just like any other person can, I fell incredibly ill and I am still regaining my strength. Thus why I look like a scrawny weakling, in your words."

Releasing the twili with a shove, Link pulled the robe back up to his shoulders and returned to his seat, sitting down with crossed arms, crossed legs, and a cross face. "I won't take any of your goat shit. Just because you don't like me doesn't mean you shouldn't respect me."

With a smug frown, the twili exhaled heavily through his nose, and returned to his seat with heavy footsteps. Returning to his seat, the head member sighed and stood. "Your highness, after today's er… _miniscule_ bickering, I suggest we postpone the traditional session two weeks from now." He broke his eye contact, and glared over at Link before continuing to speak. "Maybe our king will feel well enough to eat our own food then."

Following the head member's closing, the council dismissed themselves and exited the room, leaving Link and Midna alone.

"I'm sorry," Midna spoke first. "I didn't know they would get like that." She fondled with her hands in her lap, looking down at the floor.

With a shrug, Link slouched back into his chair and sighed. "I don't mind. I need to learn to 'fend for myself anyways." And then, to Midna's surprise, he snorted before a small fit of laughter took over him.

"What's so funny?" The queen raised one brow, and her crooked smile became lopsided in a smirk.

Looking over at his wife with a smile as if he were drunk, Link snickered once more. "Well, I've got two more weeks to figure out how to eat that liquefied shit."

"Ahh, yes – that ancient recipe that is disgusting." Midna laughed to herself. "It took me a few weeks; you'll get the hang of it eventually."

With a snicker, Link stood from his seat and placed himself right in front of Midna's, offering his hand to her. "The coward would like your hand, your highness." He grinned sarcastically down at her.

"Oh, the weakling wants my hand? Of course I'll give it to him. He's wonderful." Midna responded, equally sarcastic. Taking his hand, she felt him pull her up and close to him, while wrapping his other hand around her waist. With a small giggle, Midna bent her head down slightly so her lips met with her husband's.

* * *

Once back to their room, the two undid themselves of their formal wear into more comfortable garbs. After, Link sprawled out across their bed and watched Midna undo her hair – each fiery strand falling down to her back. When she began to take off whatever clothing was left, Link turned away out of respect. The next thing he knew, Midna was curled up beside him.

"So Link," she whispered in his year.  
"Yeah?"

"The palace nurse is coming tomorrow to check up on me, and I'm assuming you to." She spoke softly, almost inaudible.

"Mhm?" Link nodded his head softly, acknowledging her words.

"Don't mention anything about, the possible baby." _Lies_. Midna looked away from Link. "I just don't want the council to find out."

"All understood," Link whispered. He wrapped his arms around Midna and pulled her close. "Why would I even think of saying that, though?"

"I don't know, you get excited over little things."

"And a baby is a small thing?"

"Maybe."

"Oh Nayru," Link laughed. "Somebody help you get your priorities right."


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hello everybody! (the only reason I got this chapter up so quick was because I had a rainy day and nothing better to do than to write for 16 hours straight, you know, the typical heh!)**

 **But, I do have something to address first before we get to the actual story part, y'know? To the repeated anonymous reviewer: I see all of your suggestions (are they suggestions? you keep saying commands rather than suggestions tbh) and I appreciate that you have ideas! But, um, can you tone it down a bit? Like. Reviews are great, especially when you're analyzing the chapter! But when you say what should happen repeatedly it gets rather annoying. I** ** _understand_** **that you want Midna and Link to do that do the council. I 've seen it several times already. But no matter how many time's you bug me about it... it's not gonna happen. If I were to implement that into the story, my whole plot would be destroyed and you'd get a boring fic. I really don't think you want a boring fic. I'm sticking to my plot. And, if you're going to make suggestions, use** ** _suggest_** **in your review :)))) Because all I've seen is rather command-like words! I really don't appreciate that, it sounded kinda disrespectful in a way as well.**

 **Okay I'm done ranting. On to the story!**

* * *

After a rather early rise to the day, Midna guided her and Link through the halls of the palace. Now that Link was living in the twilight realm, which was filled with illness' that Midna knew he had never been exposed to, she had taken precaution to have the palace's medic do routinely check-ups for them during the first few moons. And that morning had been the first.

The two stepped into the small medical suite, and stood at the doorway waiting for the doctor to fetch them. Midna knew a few of her servants had fallen ill, and thus were requested to be quarantined here, for Link's safety. Although she felt Link's wary eyes flicker over at her, she reassured him by entangling her fingers in his hand. She knew after the previous days' incident with the twili council, he was still a bit shaken up.

Before too much time had gone, the nurse had appeared to them, and began to lead them to the back of medical chambers. In their own secluded room waited the head doctor of the palace, with him his own instruments.

"Swell morning, Queen Midna, Link." The twili grinned false-heartedly, gesturing for them to take their seats. With an unmoved nod, Link did as was suggested, with Midna beside him.

"Now, I'll be taking care of the Queen's examination, if she doesn't mind," the man chuckled a slight bit. "My fellow colleague will take care of you, Link. She does have a fascination in light dwellers, anyways."

Next thing Link knew, the doctor had stood and was taking Midna to another room. The door closed behind them. The Hylian sat in the small room, alone and cold, until he heard a small knock at the door. And then a head popped in. The door opened, then entering a younger twili woman.

Taking the spot that the other doctor had been seated, the younger woman offered her hand to Link, to which he took. "G'morning, King Link!" The blond's mood perked up hearing the title. "I'm Doctor Khina! I'll be taking care of you from now on! Honestly, I'm really excited to be working with you; I've had such interest in studying the light dwellers after the one garbed in green saved the twilight realm and his own from Zant's tyranny! I hope you don't mind my small studies every now and then!"

With a smile now wide on his face, Link nodded his head. "Oh I don't mind. I feel quite honored right now to be appreciated for the work I did. I was the one who rid of Zant." Blushing a slight amount from his boasting, but was caught off guard when the woman's clipboard and pencil hit the floor.

" _You're_ the hero? I partially want to scream right now – the hero is right in front of me….You're so skinny, though! Are you ok? Are you sick or something?" Frantically, the woman picked up her belongings, and quick began to dart her eyes all over Link.

"I'm still recovering," Link replied. "I became really ill a year ago. I'm slowly getting better. Still not myself, as you can see."

"I do see," Khina nodded her head, still scanning over him. "Before I actually start examination and minor studies, would you mind if you told me how you and the queen met? It's just that before Zant took over, she was very against the idea of befriending the light dwellers at all. And now she's married to one. If you don't want to it is fine, I'm just rather curious."

Grinning, Link shook his head. "I don't mind, it's quite an interesting tale. Now let me see, where do we start…" And Link continued to tell his time with Midna from when he was turned into a wolf at the start of the twili invasion.

Meanwhile, in the other room, Midna was under her usual "checkup" with the head doctor. She had known the man since she was still under the care of her parents. Thus, she felt comfortable with him during physical examination. But then it hit her, as he felt her arms, her back, next - her stomach. She feared the worst. He would feel it. The creation. It was to be expected. She had no way out of it now. If it were true, she'd be almost four weeks along – enough to where it could be felt.

When the doctor's hands began poking and prodding at her stomach while she laid across the bench, Midna winced. Oh how she and Link would be in trouble. Oh how she regretting coming today. Oh how she hated the council so much right now. Oh how she hoped and prayed it wouldn't be reality. But then she saw, out of the corner of her eye, the doctor raise a brow in confusion.

"Your highness, have you been feeling alright lately?" He turned to face her. "Do you feel lethargic or fatigued easy?"

Sarcastically, she snorted. "Only when I'm working with the council. Goddesses, they can never agree on anything with me."

"Queen Midna, I am being serious. Please give me a serious answer."

Pouting, she shrugged. "I'm feeling just fine."

Slightly nodding his head, the doctor sighed and gave her a rather disgusted expression. "Have you been… err… _active_ at night with that light dweller?"

Rolling her eyes, Midna groaned. "That light dweller is my husband – of course."

The doctor slightly shuddered as he stepped away from the Queen, allowing her to sit up and pull her blouse back down to meet her skirt. "Well, your Highness, it looks like an heir is to be expected. Rather, a mutt, I should say. You know, it is said that light and shadow shouldn't mix. If you want, we can rid of the monstrosity right now without having to tell the light dweller."

Clutching her stomach, Midna glared at the man before now. "No. You will not kill my child, take it, or perform studies on it. It is mine – it is my husband's. There is nothing you can do about that." The doctor sneered before returning to his paperwork, jotting notes on the examination.  
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be grabbing my husband and we'll be leaving." And quicker said than done, Midna stood and exited the room, returning to the one she originally had been in. Opening the door, she peered in to see Link tying his garbs back on – lucky for her, he was all finished. "Link, we have to leave." With a nod, he sped up the returning of his clothes, and waved a goodbye to his doctor.

"King Link, I'll write a summary of the examination and drop it off at your suite this evening – just so you can know the results." Khina shouted after him, her notes still in her hand.

Quickly and quietly, Midna grabbed Link's hand and exited the medical suite with him, growing close to his side once they were in the hallways again. Link looked over at her strangely, he knew that Midna was never this touchy in public. Nor was she in a great mood either. A fear was set in her eyes – mixed with a touch of sadness. Anger as well.

"Middy, what's wrong?" Link wrapped his arm around his wife's waist and held her close as they walked around the palace. "Something's up, I can tell."

With a sigh, Midna stopped walking, Link standing beside her. "There _is_ a baby, and he wanted to kill it – he wanted to take it from us."

The grin that formed on Link's face from the first half of the sentence fell short as Midna finished it. "They can't do that. I don't care what the council says they can't do that. You're the queen. You can overpower them."

Biting at her bottom lip, she looked at Link directly in his eyes. "Link, I can't do that. Just because I'm queen doesn't mean I have direct rule. The way the ruling power has always been is that the parliament is equal to me in power – and if one party were to overpower the other, the overpowering party would be stripped of all power. I cannot overpower the council, Link. If I do so, I wouldn't be able to run this kingdom and return it to order. If those council members get all the power, the kingdom will crumble as they do not believe in progressive ideas. I'm not letting those council members ruin my kingdom. "

"Is there anything we can do?"

Midna only stared at the floor and shook her head. "The council will dissolve in several months, by then I'm sure we can construct a more fitting parliament."

Nodding his head in agreement, Link sighed. Taking Midna's hand, he slowly took her back to their living spaces. As soon as they entered the room, Midna went straight to her desk, pulling out a blank piece of parchment, a feather, and her jar of ink. Immediately, she sat down and began to neatly write in the common twili writing on the paper.

Not wanting to ruin her focus, Link stepped away, exiting their spaces. Wandering through the halls, he made his way to the hall which the council meetings were held. Taking a peek in, he saw that he room was empty. Opening the door, Link entered the hall and gazed around. At the front of the room were the seats that he and Midna would take. And then the twelve desks lining up in row of three. The whole room was oddly void of any papers. With the purpose the room served, it would be expected that papers like unfinished bills would be found. His attention was snapped away by the opening of a door.

"Oh, Link! I wouldn't be expecting you here." The voice at the door spoke.

Link looked up with a rather surprised expression on his face. The person at the door was the head council member. "Ah, yes, hello sir." He vaguely smiled at the man before stepping away from the desks.

"What exactly are you doing in the council chamber…. Alone? I didn't really think that of you," the councilman chuckled, approaching his desk and gathering papers from its insides.

The blonde shrugged. "Midna needed some space so I began to walk about the palace. And then I figured I might as well get used to this room," pausing, he snickered a slight bit. "I'll be in here so many times, it'll probably become a second home."

The councilman surprisingly laughed with the Hylian. "It sure does. After so many years of coming here on a weekly basis, it does become somewhat of a second home."

Link began to smile at the councilman, but was quickly cut off.

"You won't be here long enough for that, though."

Taking step in front of the councilman before he could step away, Link crossed his arms. "What do you mean by that?"

The twili only smirked and lowed his glasses with one hand. "Well, Link, it is quite obvious that you and I are different. I'm much more adapted to this environment than your light dwelling body. Sure enough, the harsh conditions will chase you away from this realm."

Gritting his teeth, Link looked up at the man furrowed his brows. "Never," he hissed underneath his breath. "I would never leave Midna for something like that. I'll adjust – I won't just leave her for my own selfish needs." Shooting a glare at the man, he added, "And you won't chase me out, either."

As the twili only snickered as response, Link stormed out of the council's hall. His fists were clenched by his side while he cursed between his gritted teeth. His _hatred_ towards the twili always got to him. Especially the ones who were out to rid of him. The followers of Zant were surely a pain – how they will do anything to kick him out without killing him and creating distrust in the public. With a grumble, he made his way back to his room, seeing Khina approaching from the opposite direction.

With a grin on her face, she waved a small handful of papers in her hand. "Sir Link! I have the reports. I can explain them to you if you would like. I'm pretty sure my handwriting is pure nonsense."

Masking his previous fit of anger with a pleasant expression, he greeted the woman. "Oh, sure! Step inside, I'm sure Midna wouldn't mind. And I feel like you were to be more trusted with some information we… err… just found out."

She shrugged. "Compared to some of the other twili, I guess you could say so!"

With a grin, Link reached over and opened the door to the room, entering and closing the door after Khina had followed him in. With a quick glance across the room, he noted that the paper that Midna had been writing on when he left was full, and she was a sleep on the desktop. Chuckling to himself, Link grabbed a free blanket and draped it over her shoulders. When he turned around to face Khina, a wide smile was planted on her face. She recollected her focus and buried her nose in her papers.

"First things first – what you have to watch out for, I guess, because you're not a twili. Well, due to your thin skin, you'll have to watch for the cold temperatures. I'm assuming the light realm is warmer due to the sun." Khina prodded at Link's exposed arm. "And the air gets thicker here sometimes. I guess you should be more careful in watching how you breathe… I guess?"

Link nodded. "It has felt a bit weird. I guess that's all." The Hylian shrugged, once again looking back at his wife.

"Soooo, what exactly did you want to tell me?" Khina raised a brow.

Taking a deep breathe, Link raised his hand and placed it on the back of his neck. "Well, the thing is…" he sighed and took a breath. "Midna's expecting. And most of the Twili we've encountered have threatened to kill any children we were to have." He looked up at Khina directly into her eyes. "I trust that you can keep this secret and help us when the time comes?"

With a warm smile on her face, the twili nodded her head. "Of course! I'll do my best… I would hate to see that you'd lose your kid to those monsters."

Link nodded his head, but quickly turned around when he heard subtle noises arising from Midna.

"Ah, I'd better go," Khina whispered. "I'll probably see you in the hallways. We can set up a place to meet daily so I can secretly make sure the Queen's alright."

Link agreed, and quietly showed Khina out. Once he silently shut the door, he approached his wife from behind, her soft snore's rather cute in the instance. Gently, he placed his hands under her knees and along her back. With a grunt, he lifted her from the chair, rushed over to the bed, and gently rested her on the mattress. He pulled the covers up to her arms stared down at her with a smile upon his face. Slowly, he placed his lips on her cheek before pulling away.

Sitting at the desk Midna had previously been at, Link placed the filled out parchment in front of him. Slowly, he began to translate the ancient twili into his own words. It was a bill. Midna had written a proposal which would allow them to keep the child that they would have in moons to come.

Giving a quick prayer to the goddesses, Link hoped that for some odd reason, the parliament would agree to her proposal. He didn't want to lose his first baby. He didn't even care if it was born or not – he knew that both he and Midna wanted it. But with the amount of power the council did have – Link feared that the council would harm Midna to exterminate the child if they were to find out. Oh goddesses, he hoped and prayed that would never happen.

Sliding the parchment to the side of the desk, he crossed his arms and laid his head in them. Link faced towards Midna, watching the rise and fall of her chest as she slept. Out the window beside their bed it was a dark navy. He couldn't even tell how late it was in the afternoon or evening – it was almost always that color outside. With a sigh, Link lifted his head and blew out the candle at the desk before returning his head to his arms. Slowly, his eyes blurred and his head dozed off into an unconscious state.

* * *

Gathering her supplies, Khina packed her back and slung it over her shoulder, saying her goodbyes to the overnight nurse at the medic suite. As she stepped outside, though, she heard the voice of the head doctor, with the elder councilman. She heard Midna's name and that was all it took.

Suddenly, a wave of anger flushed over her. How she wanted to go and beat their faces in. The scum of the realm, they were. It was crude enough for having a grudge against Link for something he couldn't handle, but what got to her was that they wanted to take their child away from them. It irked her. The idea stayed on her head ever since Link told her that evening.

Shaking her head, she felt the urge to scream, but held it back. She knew that she would have to break the news to Link and Midna. And that was the thing she was scared of.

* * *

 **If you are going to review, please, be respectful!**


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hey! This chapter took a** ** _little_** **bit longer due to mental issues n stuff. But um. I've just stopped reading reviews. I turned of all email notifications because it's been making me feel like absolute shit and not want to actually work on this. So I figured if I didn't see it, it wouldn't bother me as much. I'm about to go read the plenty of reviews given from the last chapter.**

 **Ah. And shit's gonna go down soon. I'm an asshole with a plot.**

* * *

It had been a week since the news of the child was confirmed. In the meantime, Link and Midna spent most of their hours determining loopholes of the council's rules, while trying to think of a counter of their own. Link had met with Khina several times. She had told them about the doctor's meeting with the council. Neither of them knew what to expect as time went on. Khina prepared Link for the worst, she had said. Today, he only stood shaking as Midna tried to ease his fears. They were finally reopening the palace doors for the public. And, according to the guards, there was already a large crowd of young twili waiting.

Link expected lots of lashes and threats towards him, but Midna only reassured him, resting her hand on his. As she looked over at him seated in his throne, an expression that obviously screamed 'panic' flooded his face. But, as Midna smiled, his discomposed expression abated away.

"Link," Midna assured her husband. "Thing will be just fine. If the guards are right and this is a younger crowd of the twili, you'll be fine! They're rather accepting compared to the older generation. Besides, I'll be able to write down the names of the ones we like to be chosen for the new council in a few months." Raising her brows, she saw a small grin form on Link's lips – a good sign.

"That's good. But," he paused. Not so good. "Why can't we just disperse the current council now? They… all they've done to us is restrict us and take over."

Sighing, Midna's smile became neutral. "Well, remember when you first came here a few months ago, searching for me? I was only passed down the powers from my parents back then. I've only been in power for a few months. So, in according to tradition, I do not have enough 'experience' to overthrow the council that my parents had. Trust me; I would've done it already if I could."

"But you're the Queen. You should have more power than them."

"Not the way the ancient twili set up the system. The council is there to give citizen input, so it's fairer, I presume." Midna shrugged, slowly pulling her hand away from Link, returning her face to a pleasant theme. "The guards are about to open the doors."

With a wary grin, Link exhaled deeply, readjusting his robes just before the first visitor came in. It was a young girl – still in school. With respectful greetings to both Link and Midna with their proper titles, she mainly focused on Link, asking him various questions. Some about his duty as the hero, others like how he met Midna, how does it feel to be the only Hylian in the Twilight Realm, and many more. And, as Midna had said, she was very open to the idea of a light dweller being their king. In fact, she had seemed very supportive of it.

For the most part, the rest of the visitors were similar, except for the few older twili who came to bash. But, by Midna's request, they were quickly escorted out. Several hours later and the doors closed. With an exasperated sigh, Link slumped down in his chair – a grin planted on his face.

"You were right – I didn't have too much to worry about." Link glanced over at Midna. "Most of them were rather nice."

Shrugging, Midna stood from her throne and stretched. "I sure did. Heh. Goddesses, how long did that take? I've got around thirty names to choose from but I'm starving."

In almost an instant, Link shot up from this chair and jumped right to Midna's side. "What you're hungry? Why didn't you tell me? We could've gotten somebody to get you food? Is the baby okay? Is that why you're hungry?" Link rambled on and on, in a rather incomprehensive manner.

Midna's face only turned a bright red and she knocked her head back out of laughter, leaving Link in a confused blunder. While he questionably stared at her, brow raised and a part in his lips, Midna wrapped her arm around his shoulder and began to lead him back to their chambers.

* * *

The next week passing with flying colors – no disturbances, troubles. It was rather peaceful. Link didn't expect a calm week at all with the circumstances of the twili council. He knew _certain things_ would be brought up at the meeting that day. The meeting was the one postponed after his small incident with a minor councilman. He wasn't going to screw it up this time – nope. He wanted it to remain as placid as possible.

With a sigh, Link tossed and turned under the sheets, slowly waking up from the night's slumber. Sitting up, he rubbed his eyes with his hands before opening them. With a quick glance back, he expected Midna to be sprawled out across the bed. But, what he expected was not there. All he heard was a wretched cough come from across the suite. Standing to his feet, Link hurried to the source of the sound, stopping in the doorframe of the room.

Alone in the washroom, with a small lantern lit, was Midna crouched on the floor, emptying the contents of her stomach into a small wastebin. Quickly entering the room, Link knelt down beside her, wrapping his arms around her. With a small gasp, Midna glanced up at him and the shock left her face in an instant.

"Hey," she whispered, a discomforted grin appeared. "I didn't mean to wake you up, I'm sorry."

Kissing her cheek, Link shook his head after pulling away. "No, no, it's fine. I was getting up anyway. I got a bit worried when you weren't next to me." With a sigh, he rested his chin on her shoulder, while sitting down and pulling Midna into his lap "Is this because of…?" Link didn't even need to finish his question.

"Yup." Midna nodded her head, leaning back onto Link. "Only a few more weeks of this I suppose. At least it's not all nine moons."

Nodding his head, Link began to rub his hand's along Midna's sides, as attempt to soothe her. "Do you think you'll be able to hold up at the meeting today?"

"I don't know. I hope."

Doubtfully nodding, Link placed his arms under Midna's, beginning to stand and lift her up with him. "Well, we can at least get ready. They won't question us for being late, and then before you know it, the whole session will be over and you can relax. I bet we can get Khina to bring you something to ease with things, y'know."

Agreeing, Midna took control of her balance and separated herself from Link. Slowly, she grudged back to their bedroom, undressing from her night gowns. Immediately replacing them with her royal garbs, she stepped in front of the mirror to fix her hair.

Changing into his own robes, Link asked, "When will it start to show?"

Nonchalantly, Midna shrugged. "Hopefully not for a few more weeks – I really doubt anytime soon, though. One less thing I have to worry about for now."

Link blinked his eyes in acknowledgement, and then finished dressing himself in the garbs. With a deep breath, he offered his arm out to Midna, next leading them out of their room, and to the session chambers. As they had entered last time, the room was, again, empty. They directed their paths to their thrones and sat themselves.

Link slung his head back and sighed, closing his eyes. "I'm not ready for this today."

Midna shook her head. "Neither am I. I'm hoping the council hasn't planned anything. If Khina was right, then the council knows about my pregnancy. And knowing them, I'm quite scared."

"Would your parents help?"

"My mom would," Midna laughed. "My dad? No no no no. He's too into 'keeping the royal blood pure'."

Anxiously smirking, Link glanced over at Midna. "Oh, great. That's nice to know. Heh…. Hey, how come I haven't met them?" He sat up, raising one brow at her.

Rolling her eyes, Midna chuckled. "Well, when you came, my parents had just handed off their power to me. And since they've taken a year-long vacation in a far providence of the realm, they won't be back to at least another four moons or so. But, when they do return I definitely want you to meet them."

Shrugging his shoulders, Link returned to slouching back in his throne. "Yeah, that'd probably be best."

Opening her mouth, ready to speak, Midna was cut off by the abrupt opening of the front doors of the room, followed by the filing in of the council members. Each member took their seat, recited a few lines to open the session, and then folded their hands on their desk. Servants next piled in, carrying platters of the traditional food that opened the session. However, Midna's was carried in completely separate from the rest – unlike the previous time. Link was the only one to take some concern by that, though.

With a few simple words from the Queen, the session began. Managing to get the bland, metallic soup down his throat, Link had finished last. He looked up with wary eyes as the council were waiting for him so the session could start. Face flushing red, Link diverted his eyes away from the parliament.

The elder councilman stood and put his attention towards Midna. "Your highness, do you have anything to say before the council discusses the change in citizen outlooks?"

Standing, Midna grabbed the proposal she had written a week earlier and placed it on the desk of the head councilman. "I have a suggestion. You _will_ need an heir to my throne, so, why not let me have one? This proposal I have does counteract with a rule you already have set in place. But you cannot have an heir without royal blood. And since I am in the throne – it would have to be my royal blood."

With a hiss, a twili in the back of the council spoke out. "But your husband is a light dweller. It would not be royal blood. It would be a mutt's blood, this heir you say you need."

"The heir would still have my blood, still making it a royal." Midna crossed her arms, scrunching her brows.

"My dear Midna," the eldest councilman whispered. "You know we can't have half-bloods. It would be a dishonor to our ancestors."

"But times have changed. It's different now than it was a thousand or so years ago," Midna grumbled, glaring the delegate in the eye.

"Oh, Midna," the council man chuckled. "We all know _why_ you're proposing this." The delegate smirked, reaching his hand out and resting it against her stomach.

As soon as Link saw the twili's hand reach out, he bolted out of his chair in an instant and pulled Midna away from the man. Quickly, he stood in front of her to act as a small barrier. "Don't you _dare_ touch her," Link hissed; the integrity of anger in his eyes above fuming.

A malicious smile grew on the councilman's face. "Well then. The proposal is unanimously denied."

"But you didn't even vo-"

"Silence. It was unanimously _denied_."

Taking a breath, Link sighed. Turning around, he and Midna returned to their seats with lost looks on their faces. The council spoke for two hours on end, but the two had tuned them out. Just a static ringing hung in their ears as a sense of hopelessness flooded them. They needed another way out. Midna and Link knew that they were not going to lets such a thing happen without a fight.

After the session called itself to an end and the twili mass exited the room, Link and Midna stood from their thrones. Knees wobbly, they managed to make their way back to their suite, all in complete silence.

The door closed behind them, they stripped themselves of the modest garbs, not replacing them with anything. It wasn't even half-day, but they felt there was nothing they could do at the moment, with their minds all caught up in the mess. Midna threw herself into their bed, burying herself in white sheets and thick blankets.

Following her, Link did the same. Underneath the sheets he inched himself closer to Midna, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her closer. The two were speechless. A sorrow fog sweltered in their eyes as the denied proposal kept hitting insides of their heads. Just another reminder that wouldn't disappear.

Burying his head into Midna's shoulder, Link's eyes slowly leaked a small river of his sadness. He tried to retain his discomposed whines, but his voice prevailed. But not long enough, Midna felt his tears trickled down onto her neck, only spurring the release of her own. Her face cringed as she let the sorrow take over.

"I never understood how parents loved their child from before it was born, because they never had met it," Link choked, sniffling as well. His face was a blotchy red, more-so around his eyes. "Now I do."

Minda shut her eyes tightly, her mouth a twisted, abstract shape now. "We'll welcome it to the world but only watch it get taken away… brutally slaughtered. What have we done? What are we putting on this poor being? It never did anything and here we know it's going to get killed as soon as we meet it."

"I feel awful about it," Link whispered into Midna's ear, wiping his eye away with one hand, returning it to about his wife, and tightened the almost invisible distance.

* * *

Khina stood outside their door. She heard the perturbed cries. The whines of despair. She wanted to do something about it. It was too late though. She noticed the missing medicine too late. That was what they put in with Midna's ceremonial food. She felt guilty for not being able to warn them. She knew that they didn't know what was to come.

All they knew was that they weren't allowed to keep the child.

She wanted to knock at their door, but knew it would be out of place. She knew they were mourning. Even more still to come. With a sigh, she knelt down and folded her letter in half and slid it under the door. She knew they'd find it eventually. Maybe not right away, but eventually.

Standing, Khina began to quickly stride away from the royals' rooming. Her head faced the floor, hair all over the place, blocking her vision. Messily, she wiped her eyes with her hands. Strains of tears still on her cheeks, though.

"I'm sorry. I'll do better next time," she whispered to herself. The guilt coming over her like a wave of eternal hell.


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N: I just went through all these reviews and you know, I kinda feel like crying now I feel like shit about this story. I'm sorry it's not good enough for you! I'm sorry I'm not the best writer. I'm sorry I'm still learning and thought that just because I enjoy it and I'm decent at it I thought I could share my story. I'm sorry I use the characters I feel most comfortable with to vent into! I'm sorry I have a shitty life and have to vent into characters to keep myself sane! I'm so _fucking_ sorry! :D**

 **To be honest, I looked over all these reviews. 94. I just. I think that's a bit out of hand for a four (now five) chapter story. And to let you know, I do not have writer's block. I'm just busy. You know. I have a life as well. I cannot dedicate each and every minute to writing because I have things to do. Sorry. And I just feel like you think I don't care about Link and Midna. I love them with all my heart. They are precious to me. I hate to write the bad stuff that happens to them, but bad periods need to happen or there's not plot. If you don't like it, you don't have to read it. And yeah, my story gets depressing at times because I need to vent into my characters. My parents refuse to get me medication for my own anxiety and depression and this is one of my outlets.**

 **And I love how you all are giving me a bunch of stories. But the only part I don't like is that you're telling me to get ideas from them. Listen. I've got my own plot and I'm not changing it. I've gone over it with a few of my friends who are more successful writers than I am and they think it's perfectly fine the way it is. And, I wouldn't read another's story and use their ideas in my own. That's stealing their ideas. That's cheating. I'm not that type of person. I will NOT take somebody else's ideas. Their story is their story. Mine is mine.**

 **I just wanted to let you know, I'm actually debating whether I should even continue this or not. No matter what I'm going to do I'm going to expect to get boatloads of reviews telling me about how my story is not good enough, too depressing, should be more like this, etc. and I really hate it. I'm sorry. It makes me feel like shit. It makes me wonder where I should even _bother_ with this story. Because it appears that somebody won't get off my case until I cut out every event that makes the plot a plot and it's a dull story with no movement and just happiness.**

 **TL;DR, I'm done with with the bullcrap I'm getting and I want to stop writing for a while and crawl into a bed and hide there forever. Yup.**

 **Anyways here's the next chapter.**

 **Probably going to get a ton of bs after this but I've given up. Oh well ! 3**

* * *

A wave of bitter chill flushed over Midna, only to be immediately replaced by a flash of heat. Her body covered its self in beads of sweat as she nimbly shook. When a shot of pang swiveled its way up her back from her lower side, the queen's eyes shot wide open as she took a breath. Gripping her husband's arm, Midna repeated Link's name several times. Her voice shot up in volume as another strike of discomfort ran through her. Startled, Link's eyes opened and he turned in the bed to face Midna. Even in the lowly lit room, the disquiet in Midna's eyes was obvious and well observed.

"Midna, what's wrong?" Link asked in a panicky manner. He immediately sat up in the bed, readjusting pillows behind his wife's head

"Link there's something…" she grit her teeth to lightly dull the pain. "Wrong… something's wrong…" She groaned, tossing her head to the other side of the pillow.

Swallowing back his worries, to calm his wife, he brushed her hair from her face and spoke softly. "Do you want me to get Khina?"

Tears now streaming down her eyes, Midna barely nodded her head. With a small grunt, Link slipped a loose robe over his chest and left their room as quickly as he could, a paper lying on the ground was ignored as he ran past it. Sprinting through the halls, climbing stairs, Link scanned the names above the door. When he saw the familiar name he was looking for, he slowed his tracks. He felt bad for knocking at such an ungodly hour. But it was urgent.

Taking a deep breath, he willfully knocked his knuckles against the twili's door. He hoped and prayed she was still up. And, only to confirm his hopes, the woman opened the door, hair tied up into a bun and dressed in pajamas.

"Sir Link!" Khina's eyes widened. "What are you doing up here now?" But then her heart dropped. She knew why.

Somewhat out of breath, Link responded, "Midna. Something's wrong with Midna."

With a quick nod of her head, she reached for her small bag of supplies and hurried out of her room. As Link jogged lightly in front of her, a ball of guilty grew in her stomach. The name of what she thought was given to the queen was unimportant, but what it did was rather heartbreaking. It was a mixture of acids and combinations derived from a rather toxic plant. Over the years, it had been figured that a small dose would help an expecting mother rid of her gravidness. So far, its use had only been allowed when the fertility proposed fatal risks to the mother, which would result in needed termination.

With the amount that was missing from the inventory, it was no doubt the council's fault. Khina perpetuated that the king and queen would find out shortly. She knew she was walking into something she couldn't fix. She could only aid in the queen's recovery.

The child, as of now, would be unimportant. Its struggle to follow through would be there no longer.

As soon as her and Link entered the room, Khina rushed over to the queen's side. Patting her head, she brushed away Midna's hair and looked deep into her eyes.

"Midna, take a deep breath. Everything's going to be okay," Khina whispered into the queen's ear. "Link will get you a glass of water. Just tell me exactly what you're feeling." Out of the corner of her eye, she noted the King rushing off to fill a glass for his wife.

"Khina," Midna whispered. "Is what's between my legs, what I think it is?"

Taking a gulp, the younger Twili lifted up the sheets. There, exposed, the red stained fabric surrounded by a puddle of blood. When she turned back to the queen, she noticed the tears streaming down Midna's face.

"I… I'm sorry, your highness." She felt the tears well up in her own eyes. Midna had already buried her face in her pillow. "You've had… a miscarriage."

Gently placing her hand on the queen's shoulder, she rubbed her arm, a small attempt to comfort her newfound loss. The silence, however, was interrupted with a shatter of glass. In an instant, Khina turned to see Link wide eyed, extremely pale, with sadness building up around his eyes.

"I'm going to kill that council." Gritting his teeth and clenching his fists, Link spun around and raced out the door. Khina stood to stop him, but he was long gone. With a sigh, she returned her attention back to the queen. Beginning to clean her and comfort her from her unwanted loss.

Back out in the hall, he fell against the opposing wall, resting his forehead against it, while slamming his fist on it. Eventually, he slumped over, sliding down the wall and onto his knees. Choking back a small cry, he took his sleeve to his nose and stood back up – a fire now burning in his eyes.

As soon as he felt balanced on his two feet, Link raced down the hall. Stopping at a large room, he took a breath, and entered himself. A small counter was placed in the front; a guard slumped over behind it. Small snores emitted from his mouth. With a shrug, Link snuck by and back where the storage was.

Taking a lit lantern off the wall, he began to walk through the array of hanging swords, spears, daggers, and shields. Link knew he wouldn't be up to par, but he had to do something. Despite all the blood already on his hands, this – this was personal.

Lifting a thin blade in his hand, he twisted the metal, admiring it under the dim flame of the lantern. Satisfied with his find, he smirked with a small grunt of satisfaction. As silently as he entered, Link had left the same room, but now with a weapon in his hand.

Once back in the main hallway, he diverted off to a smaller area where the councilmen's lodgings were. He felt it in his gut that this was all the fault of the head councilman. Clenching his fist around the hilt of the sword, Link took a deep breath in and exhaled. Costive, he took small steps down the hall, reading the names and seats on plaques outsides the doors. And then he found him.

The eldest councilman. His door. At the end of the hall. And Link was standing in front of it. Blade gripped tightly in his hand, he twisted it with a bounce. He pursed his lips and furrowed his brows. This was business. It wasn't about all the comments the council made about him. All the doubts about him. No, it wasn't about that.

He chose to harm Midna. He chose to harm his child. He chose to do this to him. He chose to be a heartless soul. He chose to still follow Zant's beliefs. He chose to be how he was. And he was going to pay for it.

Taking a breath, Link clenched his jaw and barged open into the councilman's room. At instant, he heard the man take in a startled breath from the bedroom. Running in, Link saw the man getting up from his bed. Quickly, he burst in and pinned the man against the wall, edge of the blade resting up against the delegate's neck.

"You will be tried for treason if you continue on with this," the man hissed under his breath.

With a sly grin, Link chuckled. "I know. But I'd rather you be dead. You killed somebody. Now you will have a similar fate as them."

Snorting, the councilman raised his brows at Link and resorted to a faint smirk. "That mutt deserved to die. It would be the biggest abomination to the twilit kingdom, along _with_ the light realm."

"My child would not be an abomination!" Link shouted, pressing the blade into the delegate's skin, a small trickle of blood appearing. "The people in my own realm would love it as much as me. They already are fond of Midna. Why wouldn't they like my child? You and your council are the only ones that _don't_."

"Treason, young boy." The man smirked, jeering his responses. "Think of all the blood _already_ tainting your hands. Think about all whom you've killed. Monsters, cursed Twili…. _Zant_."

Taking a deep breath, Link stood his ground. "That… all that was selfless killing. I did it for Princess Zelda and Princess Midna. Zant was a tyrant. All he wanted was power. He couldn't care about anybody else. I helped Midna take back her crown."

"But who is to say that Zant wouldn't have been a suitable king?" The twili reviled.

"Many of your people. Your own _queen_. You are the one who should be tried for treason." Link inched his faced closer to the man's, brows furrowed, enveloping his face with a pure hatred.

"The queen? She's useless to me." The twili enjoyed the enraged reaction from the Hylian's face. "She gives too much to her people. She's not a selfish enough ruler. The people walk all over her."

Pushing the blade in further, more blood streamed down the twili's neck. "Midna cares for her people. She doesn't want them to suffer the way you will make them!" And with his final cry, the blade in Link's hand made its way through the man's neck, his body falling to the ground, limp. "That was selfless killing…. This… this is for what you took from me."

Dropping the blood-stained blade, the small sword rattled against the floor with its impact. And with a final breath, Link dropped to his knees, tears trickling down his cheeks.

"I… I just murdered somebody." But then he shook his head. "It was for her. It was for them. It wasn't blatant murder."

As the conflicting thoughts debated in his head, his finicky state hurried up to him. Shakes in his hands, heart beating faster than he could count; Link only remained still in the puddle of twili blood. It stained his robes and his hands. The twili was right – his hands were covered in blood.

After a few minutes of silence, Link picked up on the commotion from the councilmen's apartments above the one he was in. Quick as a cat, he reached for his blade and bolted out the door, back into the hallway. He sprinted out of the area as fast as he could. His lungs and legs burned. He hadn't pushed himself at such a limit in months. It drained him. But he kept going.

 _He had to._

If he didn't, he could feel it in his bones that the rest of the councilmen would find him and beat him alive. Tie him up in town center. Torture him like the murderer he was. Shaking away the acidic thoughts from his head, Link continued to run back to his own suite. At night, the palace was haunting; the dark chill that loomed overhead was only made worse by his previous actions.

As soon as he returned back to his own livings, he immediately went in and slammed the door shut behind him. Link rested his back against the door, closing his eyes and curling his head up. His hand released the hilt of the blade and it hit the floor with a pang. Then his knees gave out and he slid to the floor.

A distorted voice called his name, but the static in his ears covered it up. Link opened his eyes, and started at the voice's origin with a glaze over his eyes. The person tugged as his arms, yanking him up off the floor. His whole head felt like it was in a foggy haze. He felt himself being pushed against his bed, but otherwise it was all a blur.

His head was ringing as his guilt built up in him. He felt like a murderer. The blood on his hands this time was his own choice that he made. It wasn't something he was chosen by the holy goddesses to do – no. He _chose_ to kill this man.

That was what made it all the worse.

"Link!" Somebody shook his side.

"Link!" Another faint voice, different than the first.

"Link, you need to get up." The first one wept. He could hear a small croak in her voice. And it hit him.

As his vision began to return, his heart settled a bit, but his stomach churned with the weight of the kill. Link could make out the faint form of Midna beside him. She was still lying in the bed. The sheets were stripped from under her though, as she was only wrapped in a fresh blanket, a wet cloth resting against her forehead. On his other side was Khina, eyes wide and frantic as she scrubbed his arms. She was taking off the blood.

"Link," he heard Midna's voice whisper in his ear. "Whose blood is this? Why is it all over your clothes?"

"I killed him."

Both Midna and Khina's heads popped up. Khina was the first to speak, though. "Who did you kill?"

"The man who killed our child." Link grit his teeth, lowering his head as he coughed slightly.

"The other councilmen will figure out." Khina murmured.

"Their head councilman is gone. They can disperse or I can choose a new elder from the existing council." Midna shrugged.

Link's ear's perked. "You can disperse the council now?"

With the realization of what she just said, Midna's eyes widened and filled with tears, despite the cheesy grin growing on her cheeks. "I… I can disperse the council now." She turned to Link and wrapped her arms around him, ignoring that his robes were stained red. "This will be the last of this that we'll deal with."

Blinking twice, Link slowly nodded his head. "Yeah." Wrapping his arms around his wife, he embraced her and rested his head on her shoulder. "Yeah."

Khina took a step back, a small grin lighting her face. For them to realize the torture would be over soon enough was a wonderful sight to her. As soon as the two broke apart, she undid the bloody robes from around Link's torso and pulled them off.

"I.. I'll take care of these. You two rest. I have an odd feeling this isn't over just yet." Khina began to grab her things and head to the door. "The last day with the council should be tomorrow. Rest well for that. It will be a fight… but all of this will be over soon enough." And with a simple nod, she opened their door and left.


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N: I'm sorry this took so long. I've had driver's ed. daily and I've had a bout of bad anxiety and I haven't been in a good mood to write. And also diabetes issues. And I lost my girlfriend (please don't assume I'm a guy though...), who is also my editor/reviewer before I post. But I'm finally glad I got to the point in my plot where things started going uphill (maybe if a few of you just waited a _little_ bit you would find out I do good things for these two and you wouldn't call me harsh or heartless). Sorry, I just. A lot of what I'm told (that I'm brutal, heartless, harsh) really gets to me and now just writing this story gives me stress. I _do_ have a tendency to write darker themes. That's just me. If you don't like it, you don't _have_ to read it.**

 **Now, I like _constructive_ criticism. Not just criticism. Anything that will help my writing improve, great, shoot. Like, for example, in ROAF, somebody suggested that my word choice was a _bit_ too modern for the time period that the story is written in. That's great. That's the stuff I like. Not the "wow you're too harsh to these characters where's your heart". I do not tolerate that. Sorry.**

 **Well, onto another chapter.**

* * *

Link and Midna stood in the small balcony overhead the courtroom. Khina stood in the center of the room, turned towards the small jury, giving her testimony. The trials were different in arrangement than those in the light realm, but worked just as efficient. The head doctor was cuffed to a chair, a dead, stale, expression masking his face. Link sneered at him and held onto Midna tighter. In response, she only squeezed his hand in reassurance.

"I had heard him." Khina pointed at the doctor while facing the jury, looking into each and every one of their eyes. "He and the head councilman. _He_ gave away confidential information that he is only supposed to share with his patient. His patient, our Queen, Midna. He gave away the information of her pregnancy to the man who was all against it, and willing to do anything to end it." She lowered her finger from the direction of the doctor. "That, that was his first action of treason," Khina hissed loud enough for the jury to hear.

The jury was comprised up of, luckily, the younger crowd of twili. As Link had witnessed before, they younger generation was rather opening. They were rather accepting compared to the older ages. Link had hope in them that the verdict would fall in their favor. And, he was quite confident that it would. Looking up from the court room floor, he saw in a parallel balcony the council. The day after the head councilman was put to death, Midna had dispersed the former parliament. Together, they chose the twelve new delegates from the twili they had met in previous days.

The new council got along with Link and Midna perfectly; hey were willing to accept new ideas. Their own ideas were for the better, anyways. And, they stood with Link, Midna, and Khina in the case that unfolded below them. Looking back down at the floor, Link watched Khina's movements closely.

She paced backwards, her faced cringed and tight. But, she whipped around, a confident glare in her eyes. "Do you know what else this man did?" Khina paused, glaring over at the doctor, whose tough look began to falter. "First, let me give you some background information. He and I, we are the only two doctors in the palace. He, having a higher rank than I, though I'm still a top-class physician. He and I are the only two allowed into the storage cabinet where we hold all the medicine."

"You know what I found missing? Several vials of hyfanephrine, drawn from the toxic plant known as hyfanis. It's a drug rarely used, except in certain circumstances, to terminate pregnancies early on. We've only used it on mothers who wish to not have a child, or if bearing a child is dangerous to them." Khina's lips sealed with the words on the last sentence. Her head dropped, but rose with watery eyes and quivering lips. "But you know who _didn't_ want to lose their child? Queen Midna. She and King Link never approved of this. The doctor logged this medicine out of our supply, but did not list a specific patient."

"But I figured it out. By asking several guards around, I learned that this doctor had conspired with the head councilman. The doctor had pulled out a large enough dose of hyfanephrine which would end up terminating the Queen's expectancy by mixing it in her food, unknowingly to her, during the last traditional meeting of the King, Queen, and parliament." Khina clenched her fists by her sides while slowly speaking every word with a crisp hatred.

Taking a breath, her head tilted toward the ground. "Late that night, King Link came running to me. It was really late. Most other Twili were sleeping. He had told me there was something wrong with Midna. Immediately, I knew what it was." Sighing, she felt Link's gaze drift away from the back of her head.

Link had let go of Midna and retreated back in the balcony, leaving his wife to look back at him. He rested himself against the wall. Midna had noticed his skin turned a pale shade, and she sighed. She knew he felt bad about that night, despite it almost being a month since it happened. She knew he didn't want to hear about how he killed the head councilman. Midna knew that he felt guilty over that moment, although the man deserved what was given to him.

Walking away from the balcony's edge, Midna placed herself next to Link. "Wolfy, you don't have to listen. You can step out for a few minutes. I don't mind."

Raising his head, Link's previously distressed frown turned rather neutral. "You haven't called me that in a while."

Shrugging her shoulders and smirking, Midna grinned a little. "Well, things have been… stressful. I usually want to take things quite seriously when things are tight. It just makes me a little _less_ worried about my kingdom, you see? And things are getting back on track now, and soon enough… we'll be able to make the most of our lives like we intended to."

With a small upward curve to his lips, Link nodded his head, returning his posture and standing straight up.

Turning her head, Midna picked up the last words of Khina's testimony before the overseer spoke. "Will the jury please step aside to reach a verdict; all testimonies and questionings have been concluded."

Grinning back at Link, Midna whispered, "Well, now they've finished that part. We can just wait here now. For the verdict. Although it's rather obvious."

Link nodded in agreement and returned to the edge of the balcony with Midna, watching below as the jury left their seats, going to a private room to discuss the evidence. Knowing that the discussion _could_ take time, chairs had been brought in for Link and Midna.

Taking their rightful seats, Link looked over at Midna several times. She seemed so calm compared to him, she just stared out into the courtroom, her eyes tracing against the designs in the stone which made up the hall. Link, however, he could only admire her while he was internally wording something he'd been meaning to ask.

"Hey Mids," Link mumbled, slightly, looking over at Midna with a pout face and wide eyes. "Can I ask you something?"

"Shoot, wolf boy." Midna smirked, glancing over at Link while crossing her leg.

"I know it's only been around a month," Link softly spoke, his eyes looking away for a split second. "But when do you think we can try again? It's not like there's anybody wanting to stop us now. The only ones that wanted to stop up are dead and about to go to jail."

Midna chuckled for a small second and looked over at Link, whose face was covered in a red hue. "I was actually thinking we could try tonight. I think I'd be ready for it." Her eyes half lidded, she raised her brows at her husband, which only made his face even redder.

"Tonight?"

"Mhm." Midna leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes. "And you have to top. Just this once."

"I've never done that before Mids," Link stuttered with his words. His eyes moved from up at Midna's eyes, down to his hands, and repeated the pattern continuously.

Midna only shrugged her shoulders and glanced at Link from the corner of her eye, a coy grin on her lips. "Well, Wolfy, you have to do it _eventually_. Usually, it's the other way around. But you don't top and I don't get it but ya know, we'll see to that later, wolf boy."

His mouth hanging slightly open, Link raised one brow and his lips formed a lopsided grin. He leaned in toward Midna to speak again, but in a much more private tone, until he was stopped by the reformed jury. They all walked in from the small room. The discussion over the verdict was rather short, it was said. The jury took their places back in their seats. Link and Midna stood from theirs and approached the edge of the balcony.

The doctor was dragged out to the center of the courtroom, a guard behind him gripping him by his handcuffs. Khina stood beside him, arms folded behind her back and a glare from the side of her eye directed toward the man next to her.

"May the jury proceed with the verdict," the judge stately spoke, crisp and loud enough for the whole court to hear.

The lead member of the jury stood, a paper in her hands. "Your honor, the defendant is found _guilty_ of treason towards the King and Queen."

At instant, Link and Midna's faces lit up. They wrapped each other in their arms, Link buried his face into her shoulder while Midna rested hers atop his.

"And the punishment?" The judge continued.

"Public execution to be performed by the king."

At that moment, Link's eyes shot wide and he pulled himself away from Midna in a frantic step. He gripped the handrail of the balcony and steadied himself while he watched the many eyes in the court look up at him. Midna grabbed as his arm, while facing down at the court with a grin on her face. As soon as the court had their amusement, their eyes wandered off as the felon was dragged out of the court.

As soon as they weren't the focal point of the room, Midna dragged Link back into the balcony, resting him in the chairs that remained there. Across his face was a widespread panic. His eyes were wide and his skin was flushed. Midna took his hands in hers and looked at him dead in the eye.

"Link, I _know_ you don't want to have to end somebody else's life…" she trailed off as her voice got softer. "But, this is law now. And think of it as the punishment for killing what would have been our son or daughter. And legally, it is. He has committed a crime against us that he cannot pay back. It wasn't money nor power. It was life. And he'll receive the punishment he deserves."

Taking a breath, Midna calmed herself for a second. "I know you didn't want to have to have to do any more of this business after Zant and Ganondorf were gone. I know it kinda messed you up. I know you kinda stress about it. I know that you won't admit to a few nightmares but I've seen your restless sleep. Link, just this once… and it's over. You won't have to do it again. On my word."

Taking several deep breaths, Link dipped his head slightly, acknowledging Midna's promise. As Midna stood and offered her hands to him, Link took them. As he stood, Midna pulled him tight to her, reaching her head down and pecked his forehead, leaving his face to redden as he stared up at her.

"You still get as red as a rose when I kiss you although we've done much worse by now." Midna smirked. "That's adorable, wolf boy."

With a blush spreading across his face, a small grin appeared on Link's lips as he wrapped his arm around Midna's waist as they exited from the small balcony.

"Ay wolfy," Midna whispered. "I feel like we should hold off on trying it again until we get this mess cleared up."

"Besides, I'm not feeling too great now," she continued on.

* * *

As the sols grew lighter, the "morning" hours of the twilit realm surfaced to the atmosphere. Midna took in a deep breath as she did her hair up over her robes. She watched in her mirror as Link slowly tied his gowns together. She saw the color drain from his face as the time grew near.

Staying silent, Link stepped across their room and grabbed the blade which took the former councilman's life, toying with the hilt in his hand before looking back at Midna. "We need to go."

Midna could only stare at Link's deadpan expression. With the rather antiqued attire, the tired look under his eyes, and his firm grip on the blade in his hand – he looked prepared, but also deeply uncertain. She only sighed and walked up to him, linking her arm with his and strode toward the execution hall. It hadn't been used in years. But, Midna heard from a distance that many Twili were showing up to see the public execution.

Entering the hall, Midna saw that center stage, the head doctor was chained by his hands to be stretched up while his feet were weighted to the ground. Link took a gulp at the sight. By what Midna had said, he would have to take the blade and cut open his abdomen, and then decapitate him once he had pleased enough on the man's suffering.

He just wanted to end the man's life. He didn't want to see his guts and the gore that was associated with his suffering. Link knew the blood that kept piling up on his hands wouldn't stop, even as much as he wanted it to, it never would. Ever.

Reaching the center of the room, Link stood behind the man who hung helplessly. Midna had to stand back. She wasn't the one deemed to be the executioner – she couldn't help. She only watched from afar as a guard spoke to her husband.

"Sir." The man in uniform approached Link. "We will begin in several minutes. Make sure the blade is cleansed and that you are prepared."

With a nod, Link turned away from the guard and began to pace in small circles. He felt many eyes and many stares burn into his skin. Maybe he wouldn't have been as bad if the execution wasn't public. As much as he hated the man who was soon to die, he couldn't bear to find it reasonable in his heart to publicly execute him.

A ringing in his ears drowned the masses of voices which flooded the execution hall. With a deep breath, Link tightened his grip on the hilt of his blade; his hearing returning in time to pick up that it was time to begin. Taking several strides to stand in front of the criminal, Link shot him a sneer before preparing the blade to swing across the man's stomach.

"Any last words?" Link hissed, his voice shaky from how nervous he was.

The twili's eyes flickered up at Link with a malicious glow. "Any child you have will be an abominable _mutt_." The force he used to speak splattered a small amount of his spit into the air.

Eyes widening at instant, Link's arm immediately jerked the blade across the twili's stomach; his insides spilling out before him. As Link took a step back from the bloody mess that splattered on the floor, the Twili cried out vociferously from the agonizing pain as his head dropped.

Link only stood a few steps back from the man. His eyes were wide, mouth gaping open; his stance was wide, skin was pale, and his left arm was stretched out – the blade dripping with blood pointed at the felon. With each breath, his body shook. But, the audience was dead silent. For once, Link heard his rough, hoarse breaths, as well as the whining from the dying twili.

"How long should I make you suffer?" Link seethed, furrowing his brows and clenching his jaw shut. He felt his muscles tighten as he became more agitated watching the twili play a grim chuckle.

"It will be a _mutt_ …" the twili wheezed, unable to hold his head up. With a small cough, blood began to trickle out from his lips. Another sputter of blood and the twili grumbled almost inaudibly, "A god damn mutt and its light dwelling father…"

Baring his clenched teeth, Link lunged forward, taking his left arm across his chest, and then swung it forcefully back to its origin, forcing the blade to cut right through the twili's neck. His head fell to the ground with a thud.

Link stood still, his body still tense, eyes closed, while his heart raced. After a few seconds, he opened his eyes and took a few steps back, staring down at the pool of blood mixed with the twili's insides and his head. As soon as he lifted his head, the onlookers shouted and yelled.

Midna gazed around at the hall full on onlookers, her eyes wide with their excitement. And then she picked up on the chant that quickly spread across the crowd.

"Justice for the Queen! Justice for the King!" The chant was boomed by the many attenders of the execution.

Midna turned her head immediately toward Link, a grin wide on her face. However, he didn't catch her look. His eyes were fixed on the puddle of blood at his feet. He was unmoved. It was like the chanting around him didn't faze him.

Lifting her skirt a bit off the ground, Midna ran out to the platform where Link stood and approached him from behind. Quietly and quickly, she wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face into his neck. Underneath her, she felt him jump and grab at her hands.

"Midna!" he shrieked a little. He took her hands and lifted them from his shoulders, and then turned to face her. "What… what are you…doing…" His voice trailed off as soon as he recognized the words the onlookers repeated over.

Link turned and looked up at the audience. He saw most of them chanting. A grin began to grow on his face. Almost immediately, Link turned back to Midna and wrapped his arms around her. And, surprisingly to her, lifted her a few inches off the ground and met her lips with his. At the moment, neither Link nor Midna focused on their surroundings. It was a moment of ecstasy – the noise faded out and became a light static, and time felt like it had stopped.

As soon as they broke apart, the reality set in again. The noise returned and the sense of time continued. Once she was back on her feet, Midna took Link's right hand in her left, stood beside him and faced the crowd. With an affirmative grin, she lifted their conjoined arms up to the onlookers as symbol of victory. After lowering their hands, Link and Midna began to leave the hall, allowing the guards to clean up the mess of spilled blood.

A step had been made.

* * *

It had been a week since the execution. The council was in session. Link and Midna sat in their respective thrones as the parliament piled into their own desks. Once all twelve were present and seated, Link stood from his throne and approached the head councilwoman's desk.

"Sir Link, what's the matter?" the young twili asked.

"Do you recall the set of rules the former council had set in place a few months before their dispersal?" Link raised a brow, resting one of his hands on the woman's desk.

With a quick nod, the woman knitted her hands together in front of her. "Yes! In our first private session with just the council members we saw this and rid of them immediately. They were just too restricting on our King and Queen. And they would prevent an heir to the throne, which also wouldn't end well."

Eyes widening and a grin forming on his face, Link nodded his head. "Ah, thank you. It is well appreciated." And with a swift spin on the balls of his feet, Link returned back to his throne. After he was seated, the head councilwoman stood to start the session.

"Good morning to all!" The woman cheerfully greeted everybody in the room. "To start today's meeting, I would first like to inform the Queen and King of something that some citizens have noticed."

Scrunching her brows, Midna sat at the edge of her seat. She didn't have a clue as to what had been happening, and it concerned her, as she didn't want anything to go wrong with her kingdom. "What's going on?"

The delegate took a deep breath and exhaled. "Some citizens have been hinted to that the former council members, along with Zant's non-violent followers are creating a small group for themselves."

"We have all of his violent followers locked up, though, correct?" Midna raised her chin up, revealing her rather serious expression.  
"Yes, your highness."

"Good. I could care less if this group is formed and they discuss their disagreements with our ruling," Midna sighed. "But, if they start to create actions out of this. Not rallying or protesting, but, rather, violent actions, they need to be sent to prison. Preferably the one on the lone floating island, with the rest of Zant's followers."

"We'll keep an eye on it, your highness." The councilwoman nodded. "And, one of our guards by the portal has received a message for you two from Princess Zelda of Hyrule."

Immediately after hearing the name, Link jumped to the end of his seat. "What did it say?"

"Her message did not give away what she needed to speak with you two about, but, she does request your presence as soon as possible. Apparently there are important matters she needs to speak with you two about."

Turning towards Midna, Link raised his brows. "When can we head out? If Zelda is asking us about something it's most likely serious."

Glancing over at Link, Midna blinked once. "We will head out the day after tomorrow. I must prepare things in my own palace before we leave the realm for a few days." Refocusing her attention back to the delegates before her, she calmly spoke. "When we're gone, please keep security high in the palace until it is confirmed we're back. I'm sure it will only be a day or two, but I don't want any infiltrations that could prove harmful."

With a nod, the councilwoman grinned. "Of course, your highness."

Midna smiled and crossed her legs. "Is this all we have to discuss today? Is there anything else of importance until next week?" When the councilwoman shook her head, Midna grinned enough to show her teeth. "Ah, good. You're all dismissed. Thank you for your time."

Almost in synch, all the council members stood and dipped their heads, and then proceeded to exit in an orderly fashion. Once they were all out of the hall, the door was closed and locked behind them, leaving Link and Midna alone in the room.

"Link," Midna whispered. "What was going on with Zelda before we left the realm? If she won't give away the information she needs us for before we get there, it's probably something of serious matter."

Taking a moment to think, Link shrugged his shoulders. "I know she was looking for a suitor. She was told she had to marry, and from what I remember Eric telling me… she wasn't exactly the happiest about finding a spouse."

"Well, she _is_ rather an independent woman." Midna pointed out. "She probably knows her judgement is better than any spouse's that she could find."

"Zelda just wants the best for Hyrule," Link sighed. "But, if there is no 'king' figure, I'm afraid much of the public won't be so accepting. Men in castle town irk me so much. Bar fights everywhere, according to Telma. Screaming at their wives. Leaving their wives whilst in a drunken mess. They're rude and probably would downgrade Zelda with their harsh words."

"She wouldn't personally be bothered, but other people would be," Midna stated, resting her chin in her hand, looking over at Link. "And if she loses support that will be bad. If her support goes down, the citizens may not want the Twilight Portal to be accessible like she and I plan to make it. And if it's not accessible, we may lose contact with her. Which would also be bad. We'd lose a trading partner, too."

"I just… I hope everything's okay over there…" Link mumbled.

Lifting her head up, Midna's expression warmed up and became rather welcoming. "I assure you, Link, it will be. Hyrule will be _just fine_."

With a nod, Midna and Link stood from their thrones and exited the hall. As they made their typical way back to their own areas, Link reached for her hand and entangled his fingers with hers.

"Hey, Mids, can we go for a walk? Outside the castle?" Link looked over at her with his eyebrows raised.

Meeting her eyes with Link's, her lips formed an upward curve. "Sure, wolfy. Why not?"

Changing their path, Midna led them outside to the palace garden. Out in the garden, Link opened the small fence and the two let themselves out. Hands intertwined, Link led Midna along a worn path, stopping at a small pond.

Link stopped and stared at the water. It looked different that of Hyrule. It had a different glow to it, although it was the same in every other way. "The water looks like the sky in the hours of midnight," Link mumbled to Midna, catching her attention. "I remember when I was young and on my own, Rusl would check on me sometimes. And if I wasn't in my home, he knew I was at the spring, staring up at the sky. The stars were so pretty and the moon shone so brightly. It was a gorgeous scene."

Grinning wholeheartedly, Midna looked down at Link, tightening her hold on his hand. "So what did you want to talk to me about? I know you. You wouldn't do something like this unless you wanted to talk about something."

Looking up at Midna with what would be considered a puppy face, Link's face turned bright red. "Well I… uh…" Link swallowed and took a deep breath; his eyes flickered away for only a second. "I asked Khina if it would be possible to still have a baby after the miscarriage, because I know, for the people in Hyrule at least, it's really hard to and… and she told me that twili are different than Hylians. And she also said that because it was induced by the medicine that was given, that it wasn't natural, that it won't affect the chances of having a baby." His voice trailed off as he looked to the ground.

"Ah. So you want to try again?" Midna smirked, raising one brow. "Or do you just wanna… you know… _play around_?"

As soon as he heard the tone in her voice, Link's face filled completely with a rosy hue, his expression shaking a bit. "…Maybe," he softly spoke."

"Then, that's what you'll get, hehe." Midna tightened her grip on his hand and began to run off toward the palace, practically dragging Link behind her.


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N: I really like this chapter. It took me a while, however. It started out with me being away from computer for a week. And then some writer's block. And then mentally I went downhill and couldn't find the motivation to do anything : D Heck yeah. Anyways, it's finished, at least.**

 **But, I am starting up school again on the 23rd, so I may slow down with writing due to business (I've got a college level class to study for and lots of orchestra-related things to do after school, and homework :P) so I hope you'll still stick with me through that !**

 **Eh. I'm done explaining. Enjoy !**

* * *

Link and Midna faced the council, the palace's top security, and Khina, with the portal to the light realm at their backs. The preparations had been made; the palace secured. Midna raised her head and grinned.

"When my parents arrive back at the castle, if they are to do so while we're away, please let my mother take care of things. My father will mess up _my_ plans." Midna raised her brows and smirked. Turning to the council, she continued to speak. "Please keep an eye on the group of Zant's followers. If there is any trouble seen of them, please take action to stop it immediately. Just do whatever you can."

With a nod, the head councilwoman grinned. "Of course, your highness."

"Thank you," Midna responded. Facing Link, she slightly lowered her eyelids and gently smiled. "Shall we go?"

With a curt nod and grin, Link waved to the council and Khina before turning around and slinging a small bag filled with his and Midna's belonging over his shoulder. Midna waved to her parliament and turned to face the portal. Taking Link's left hand in her right, she began to lead them forward, to the portal. Taking a deep breath, she stepped into the portal, Link following on her tail.

Within seconds, they were standing on a sandy stone, bright light shining down on them, their eyes burning from the sudden shift of lighting. Once their eyes adjusted, Link lifted his head and looked out into the abyss of sand of the Gerudo Desert. The Mirror Chamber, located at the top of the Arbiter's Grounds, gave a scenic view of the dust bowl.

"Aye." A voice from the other side of the chamber startled Link away from the scenery.

Both Link and Midna scanned the area for a possible origin of the voice. And then, a familiar face revealed itself. With a long tendril of hair hanging from her face, the androgynous figure emerged from behind rubble. With a small grin on her face, Impa approached Midna and Link.

"I was expecting you two," Impa greeted. "Zelda told me to stay on watch after she sent the message to your council."

Taking in a deep breath, Midna rested her hands on her hips. "Well, we're here now. I'll teleport us all back to the castle." Taking a pause, Midna lifted her chin up slightly and made contact with Impa's eyes. " _If_ that's okay with you. We can travel by foot if needed."

Shaking her head, Impa shrugged. "Nah. It's too far to walk. Besides… we really have no means of getting back out of the desert if you don't teleport us."

Eyes widening in an instant, Midna's face flushed red and she emitted a small bit of laughter. "I knew that." Exhaling and rolling her eyes, the twili reached her hands out, entangling her right hand with Link's left, and her left hand holding on to Impa's arm. "Well, to the castle we go."

Closing her eyes, Midna took a deep breath before the three dissipated into black squares into the portal above. In moments, the three reformed in Hyrule Field immediately outside Castle Town.

Impa gave the twili a concerned look, but Midna only responded with a blatant answer. "This was the closest portal to the castle."

Shrugging, Impa stretched her arms and began to take a few steps forward. "You two wait here, I'll go call for a carriage. I'm to assume you two are tired."

Clenching his brows, Link cocked his head, as it was just the 'morning' hours in the twilit realm. But, as he looked around, he noticed the setting sun and amber sky. Never before had he realized that the 'morning' in the twilight was Hyrule's evening. Returning his attention back to Impa, he was shocked that she was already gone.

With a sigh, Link turned his head over towards Midna. "I'm guessing she won't be long."

"Nah. I doubt she will. " Midna crossed her arms and gazed across the bridge of Eldin. "Goddesses, I haven't been here in so long. I forgot how pretty the sun paints the colors of the sky."

"Ah," Link exhaled, grinning. "It does. I missed it. But the twilight has a beautiful sense to its darkness."

"Not compared to the realm of light. Compared to this painting, the twilight doesn't really have much to offer." Midna lowered herself to sit in the long grass, motioning to Link to do the same. "All that is there is the light of the sols and the inclination for change. Hyrule… it doesn't need change. This place is as close to paradise as I can get."

Link placed himself next to Midna in the flowing grass and wrapped his arm around her hip. "I wouldn't say that. The twilight has plenty of beauty flowing in its veins."

"Oh, _really_?" Midna smirked, raising a brow.

Nodding ahead, the blond confirmed his answer. "Yup!" Link looked over at his wife with a wide beam across his face. "There is. I guess it's rather normal for you and the twili, but the way the markings on your skin glow in the darkness. You don't see any bodies or forms, just blue, luminescent, vessels running up your arms. I don't know how to describe it, but, I like it. I've stayed up late and watched you. You look so peaceful when you sleep. And, your markings…" Link paused and took Midna's arm in his hand, pulling back her sleeve, tracing his index finger along her markings. "They pulsate in their lamination with each breath you take. It's rather… calming."

"I never really knew you had such fascination with that…" Midna spoke softly, retracting her arm from Link and resting it over his shoulders. "I mean like, it is normal for the twili. We never really notice it. Call it unique. Or find it interesting. I guess it's like what you all have…birthmarks?"

"I guess so."

"Where's your birthmark?"

Link sighed and took his arm from around Midna's waist and held his left hand up, pointing out the marking on the top of his hand. "I don't really have a typical birthmark, but rather I was born with the triforce on my hand. At least, that's all I've ever seen."

Midna nodded her head and then leaned against Link. The two sat in silence for several moments. Off in the distance, at the castle gate, Link spotted a small carriage with Impa leading the driver to their location.

"I wonder how Zelda's doing," Link sighed.

"I'm sure she's doing fine." Midna turned to Link and looked him directly in the eye. "She has the triforce of wisdom. Zelda will make better decisions than anybody we know. I doubt there is a reason to worry about her."

"True," Link whispered. Looking in front of him, Link saw the carriage approaching. Standing, he reached down and helped Midna stand.

As Impa pulled the carriage up beside them, halting the horses, she smirked while looking Link in the eye. "There's somebody inside who you're going to want to see."

With a grin, Midna nodded a thank you to the sheikah and entered the carriage while Link held the door open for her. Following his wife, Link took a step into the carriage and closed the door behind him before he sat down and saw the person across from him.

Before he could even recognize the face of the person in front of him, Link only felt the air get knocked out of his lungs as he was thrown back against the seat in a large bear hug. Although he couldn't see her, Link heard Midna throw her head back in laughter as the grip around his chest tightened.

"I can't… breathe!" Link squeaked in an airy voice.

With a small jump, the hugger released his handle on Link and retreated to the seat across from him. "Ah, I'm sorry bud."

As soon as Link picked up the sound of the person's voice his face lit up, a grin spreading across his cheeks. "Eric!" He reached his hand forward and met it with the man's with a small slap and a knuckle touch. "Man… it's been so long. How're things going? How's Zel?"

"Everything's all as well!" Eric gleamed, leaning back in his seat and crossing his legs. Unlike how Link had known him before, the red head no longer wore a chainmail tunic with soldier's garbs. He wore, rather, royal clothing. "Zel's just in a stress pit and won't let me help her. She only wanted you two." With a nonchalant expression, Eric shrugged his shoulders. "As for me, I've finally got a boyfriend. It's really nice to have somebody who loves you in that way, you know?"

"I sure do," Midna giggled, wrapping her arm around Link's shoulders and pulling him to her. The twili felt the heat from her husband's face against her side and grinned down at him. "Aw, Link, no need to get so blushy."

Pulling away, Link crossed his arms and slouched in his seat, a cheesy smile plastered on his face. "I love you," he whispered.

"I love you too, ya' dork."

Eric turned his face away when the couple's lips intertwined. Peeking over when they broke apart, he returned his gaze to them. "So, Zelda had said she sensed something going on with you guys. That's not what she was going to talk about, but she brought it up."

"How did she know something was up?" Link furrowed his brows while raising one of them.

"You two both have the triforce. I guess it has something to do with that." Eric shrugged his shoulders. "But, anyways, what all happened? I was quite concerned about you two."

The silence from Link and Midna haunted the small carriage. Both of their gazes met their laps while their hands barely brushed together.

"Well," Midna dryly began to speak. "We lost a baby. Not naturally, either. A member of my former council had done the dirty work. He and those we have confirmed direct action to have been executed."

"Both… done by me." Link sighed, his eyelids covering most of his eyes. "I don't like killing people, whether they like it or not."

With a frown, Eric bent forward and rested both of his hands on their knees. "Ah man, that sounds terrible guys. At least it's all in the past. The future will be brighter, I can promise you that." Eric met his eyes with Midna's and Link's, giving a smile in an attempt to cheer them up. "You guys are going to try again though? You're not just giving up after that… right?"

Link shot his head up and looked Eric right in the eyes. "Of course we are."

With Link's confirmation, the red head's face lit up with a small grin. "Good. Good. Very good. I can't wait to see the little one whenever you have them."

"Of course you'll meet them," Midna giggled. "You'll be Uncle Eric. Neither Link nor I have siblings, so, you'll be the Uncle."

Eric only felt his cheeks turn red as he rubbed the nape of his neck. "Ah, man, that's sweet. I'll be the best Uncle. I promise." The man's facial expression faded when he felt the small rock of the carriage, a sign that it had stopped. "Well, looks like we're back at the castle. We'd better hurry inside. I'm pretty sure that Zelda wants to see you. She heard of your arrival. That's why she sent me."

Link nodded his head as Eric opened the small door and exited the carriage, holding his hands out for assistance to Link and Midna. The blonde followed out right after the red head, and helped his wife hop out. Taking her hand in his, Link and Midna began to follow Eric as he led them to Zelda's chambers.

"So Eric," Link whispered, gesturing to the red head's clothes. "What's with the new get up? Last time I saw you, you were wearing the typical guard uniform."

"Ahh." Eric nodded his head and turned to look at the blond. "Zelda promoted me to strategic chief. So, if we were to ever go into war or battle, I won't exactly be in the field all the time, but I will be coordinating all of our attacks and positions. After what happened with Zant, Zelda rid of the former guy. He got too scared and backed down."

"Oh," Link quietly answered.

"Were you here the day Zant invaded?" Midna raised her brows and voice as she asked the question.

With a slight nod of his head, Eric answered the twili's inquisition. "I was. I was one of the guards by Zelda's side that day. It was… scary." Shaking his head, Eric clenched his jaw and shut his eyes. A signal to Midna that he didn't want to bring it up.

While the rest of the walk through the castle was silent, Link and Midna exchanged several looks, while observing Eric's expression. It changed – like he was reliving that day in his head. Midna frowned; she hadn't realized what he had been through that dreaded day. About to exchange another glance, the red head halted in front of a pair of large, wooden doors, which were familiar to Link.

"She's inside at her desk," Eric mumbled, his head facing the floor. "Go right in. I've got to go… I've got to do something."

Taking the door in his hand and pulling it open, Link looked over his shoulder to witness Eric purposefully striding down the hall. With a sigh, Link lowered his head and entered Zelda's chambers, Midna entering directly after him. Letting the door shut behind them, the two welcomed themselves further into the room, standing in front of the princess' desk.

In her seat behind the table, her chair was turned so that she faced the windows that usually sat behind her. Turning her head over her shoulder slightly, she barely met eyes with the twili. "Oh, hello. I'm glad you two were able to come. Please, have a seat." Turning her chair to face Link and Midna, she put on a halfhearted grin and fell into the trance of tapping her fingers against her desk. "So, how've you two been? I felt something wasn't going so well. I couldn't pin point what, though."

"Ahh… well." Link gritted his teeth and furrowed his brows, before his face relaxed and he closed his eyes, releasing a heavy breath. "We'd rather not talk 'bout it right now… we're rather…"

"We're mentally exhausted after explaining it once already," Midna finished Link's sentence, staring directly into Zelda's eyes. In the brief moments before she spoke, she had run her focus all over the princess' face. She had analyzed each and every detail. "But, forget us. How've you been? You seem a bit… overworked."

While Zelda's eyes jumped open and her cheeks filled with a light, rosy red, she squinted her eyes and grinned. "No, no…I'm just fine. Just a bit… tired. I've stayed up too late, I suppose." Releasing a small laugh, the princess tilted her head just slightly, and fell back to swaying her feet and tapping her fingers even faster.

Frowning, Midna leaned forward and rested her arms on the princess' desk. "Zelda, seriously. We _know_ something is up. Let us know so we can help you."

Returning her face to its neutral, stoic expression, Zelda's eyes focused on the floor. "I was told that I had to get married to keep my power because I am a woman. I do not wish to get married though. If I were to marry a man, _he_ would get all the power because he has a floppy penis. I can't trust anybody to make decisions for Hyrule but myself. Because… I… I'm the one with the triforce…"

"The triforce of wisdom," Link continued for her. Taking a moment to pause, he sighed. "You would be the only one to make the best decisions for Hyrule."

"I know. That's my concern with the whole ordeal." Zelda sighed, turning her head away for a second.

Interjecting right after the princess spoke, Midna raised a brow. "Well, who is there to marry? I mean, if they were willing to marry you, I'm quite sure that they would allow you to have say in the country you owned before them."

"The princes that my advisors have suggested are all from other kingdoms," Zelda stated. "Those men are too bullheaded and crude. I would never want to marry them. Even as a means to form an alliance, I still wouldn't do it."

"I see." Midna's tone diminished and she played with her fingers, furrowing her brows as if in deep thought. "Do you _have_ to marry a man from another land? I mean – "

"I do not wish to marry at all. I have no desire for romance or the _pleasures_ that come along with it," Zelda sternly told the two. "I have never dreamt of it, or thought of it as a fantasy, and I never will. I am content being alone."

"What about an heir to the throne?" Midna raised her brows.

"I'll find somebody suitable to have a child with. I will not be married, though. Never," Zelda whispered. "If I really needed to, I'd help the orphaned children. So many of them need homes."

Link nodded and exhaled. "I see, I see." Stretching his arms up and yawning, Link continued, "We've got your back, though. No matter what. Got that?"

Grinning slightly, Zelda tucked her hair behind her ear and responded, "I got it." Standing from her seat, the princess walked over to the door. "Now, it's getting late. How about you two go get some rest. I have a room already set up for you two."

"Is it the same one I had stayed in before?" Link stood from his seat, simultaneously with Midna, and took her hand in his while approaching the door.

"Exact same."

"Ah. I know where it is then. Go hit the sack, Zel. You lied about being stressed. You've got too much on your mind. Just take it easy, ok?" Link grinned at the princess.

"Of course I will." Zelda blushed a tiny bit, turning her focus to her feet. "Tomorrow, though, you two have got to tell me what's happened over in your realm. I sensed something was up, and I want to know about it." Looking back up, she glanced at Link for a few seconds, but turned to Midna and stared deeply into her eyes. She raised her brows slightly, signaling that she needed to talk, right then, right now.

Placing her free hand the princess' shoulder, Midna gave her a warm grin. "No worries, it will all be sorted out tomorrow." Letting loose her grip on Link's hand, she turned to him. "Honey, can you grab our bags? The guards put them outside the door. I need to, er, talk to Zelda for a minute."

With a quick nod, the blond stepped outside the room and closed the door behind him, leaving the two women to talk amongst themselves for a brief time. Looking to the floor, there were only two small bags for them. With a shrug, Link leaned himself against the wall, allowing himself to slide to the floor. Not expecting his wife to come out anytime soon, he closed his eyes, lulling himself with daydreams and memories.

Inside the room, Zelda and Midna returned to the seats in front of the princess' desk. After she placed herself in the chair, the princess crossed her legs and raised her brows at Midna. "So, is there something you'd care to tell me?"

"About what?" Midna smirked at the princess.

Groaning and rolling her eyes, Zelda playfully shook her head. "I don't know if you remember about me and my study of magic, but I know there's something that you haven't told me. I sensed it with my magic, Midna. You're hiding something from me."

Only raising one brow, scrunching her nose, and lightly parting her lips, Midna spoke softly, "Zelda, I don't know what you're talking about. I've told you everything I have to say, except for the incident that Link and I will explain tomorrow, when we have more time."

"Oh, so Link knows?"

"What does he know that I don't?" Midna furrowed her brows.

Taken back, Zelda's eyes widened and she sat up straight. "So neither of you know yet… I sensed that _really_ early…" as her voiced softened, her head lowered and she faced her lap, mumbling rambles that were inaudible to Midna.

"What is it that we don't know that you have sensed?" Midna's expression grew serious and stoic, her lips pursed and eyes locked onto Zelda's.

Taking a breath, Zelda sighed. "I'll tell you two tomorrow, then." Soaking in Midna's glare, she grinned halfheartedly. "If you don't know yet, I shouldn't spoil it too soon. And if we're discussing heavy topics tomorrow, it would be best if I hold it off until then."

Shaking her head and sighing, Midna stood from her chair. "If you believe that's the best thing, then okay." As Zelda stood, Midna wrapped her arms around the shorter woman and hugged her. "I'll see you tomorrow, sleep tight. Take a hot bath. Just relax for a bit." After pulling away, she walked toward the door to meet up with Link, and to head back to their room.

* * *

Opening his eyes, Link realized his surroundings were hazy and pale. Off in the distance he could see little flickers, like stars. And then his heart raced. His eyes widened in nearly a second and he jumped to his feet. Further away from him, he saw a familiar face. At instant, with a wide grin on his face, Link began to sprint toward the figure. When he saw that the figure's arms were full, he slowed himself and stopped until the person approached him.

"Kokau?" Link asked, seeing the man in front of him. "Is that you?"

Although silent until he reached him, the hazy figure looked up at Link and smirked. "Shh, he's sleeping." Kokau lowered his arms for Link to take the bundle that was in his arms.

Puzzled for only a mere second, the blond's heart dropped when he realized who was in Kokau's arms. It only hit him when he saw the striking orange hair… like Midna's. Slowly and gently, Link took the small infant into his arms and held it tight to his chest.

"Link," Kokau whispered. "I'm so sorry for what happened." He wrapped his arms around the smaller. "He would have been so handsome. But now he's here with me. Saria and I have been taking care of him. He won't get much older. He'll be stuck like a toddler. That's the most he'll age, up here with me."

"It was a boy?" Link whispered in an airy tone, small, scattered tears running down his cheeks.

Kokau grinned. "Mhm. He looks a lot like you when he has his eyes open. He has your eyes. They're a piercing blue. And then he has Midna's hair. He's such a gorgeous child."

Trying to stay silent, Link held the small baby to his face and kissed his cheek. In a very soft voice, he whispered into the baby's ear. "I love you, so much."

"We've been calling him Aiden," Kokau said. "I hope you like it."

"It's perfect," Link responded.

"Great." Kokau smiled. "I hope the next one works out better. I didn't really know of any of this until he showed up here. I haven't found a way to be able to talk to you, when you're in her realm."

"Oh?" the shorter looked up to the ghastly man. "It's harder to do that?"

Nodding his head, Kokau sighed. "Sadly, it is." Reaching out his arms to take Aiden back, he spoke, "Let me take him. You and Midna have got to rest. You have things to do with Zelda tomorrow. I'll take him back to Saria. We'll tell him all about you."

"Th-thank you… Kokau." Link smiled. He rubbed the baby's cheek with him thumb, and took a step back and waved.

Just as he had taken a step back he was jerked from the dream-like state when a thick, wooden door hit him in the side. With a groan, he laid on the floor, while he heard Midna lean down to him.

"Oh, Link, I'm sorry," she whispered. "I didn't know you were there. "

Chuckling, he slowly stood and stretched his arms. "It's fine, I was just uh… taking a small... catnap."

Shaking her head, Midna picked up her belongings and slung them over her shoulder while Link did the same. "Wow. I guess you were pretty tired, wolfy."

"Heh… I guess so."

Walking back to their room, they entered, while Midna closed and locked the door behind them. As soon as Link put his things down, he began to strip himself of the twili garments and put on his nightshorts while Midna was in the washroom. Once changed, he flopped himself onto the bed and raised his arms over his shoulders to rest his head on his hands.

Eyes closed, he took a deep breath and exhaled, undoing the tense feelings in his arms and legs. While drowsiness tried to take him over, he was startled awake by a weight dropped on his hips. Jerking his eyes open, Link found himself staring at Midna sitting on his hips, her hair done up tight; the only thing covering her contrasting skin was rather fancy lingerie.

"Before we were married, I debated making love to you in this room," Midna whispered, leaning down and resting her hand on his chest, her lips only inches away from his. "But you weren't so healthy then. You fell asleep before I could even try."

Face flushing red, Link stuttered some gibberish before swallowing spit and making words out of his thoughts. "Midna… I… any other night I would do it, but tonight's not one of those nights." Turning his eyes away with his lids lowering slightly, and his lips conforming to a small frown. "I'm sorry."

With a small grin, Midna pecked his lips and raised herself off of her husband's hips. "Its fine, hon. I won't force you to do anything." As Link turned on his side to sleep, Midna molded around his shape, wrapping her arm around his waist. "You're a little spoon, though."


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N: Ahh sorry for such a long time between updates! School started and it's draining. I had pretty bad writer's block for the first few weeks, and then I saw the Zelda Symphony and I was writing non-stop. And then I've had some computer issues (aka, two have crashed. gone for good) so I've had to work on the story from my phone which is really a disservice but oh well. I saw some mixed thoughts on aromantic and asexual Zelda, but eh, I like her like that! Enjoy!**

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Midna sighed as she looked out the window in their room; the moon was high and stars shined brightly down on Hyrule. The time didn't matter to her – it was late and she should be asleep, but she wasn't. She was wide awake with an arm around her husband's torso. She felt his returning figure underneath his skin and grinned. It pained Midna to see him so ill for such a long period of time. To know he was bouncing back to his normal self was a pleasing idea.

Removing her arm from Link's side, the Queen rolled onto her back and faced the ceiling. The thoughts that raced throughout her mind consisted of Zelda's behavior from earlier in the evening. She knew Zelda fairly well, and the timbre she spoke her words in was not normal. Her voice usually resonated the insightful mind of a leader; her dialect of the previous night, however, only mirrored Zelda's worry and doubts.

And Eric also ran rampant in her mind. Midna felt as if it was _her_ question that provoked his sudden anxiety. She knew the basics of what had happened that day, but she never knew the specifics. Meaning, she had no clue where Eric had been in the whole event and what happened to him.

With a groan, Midna sat herself up, dragging her feet out of the bed. Lightly placing them on the floor, she stood, attempting to avoid making the floor-beams squeak from under her weight. She knew she had gained a small amount over the past few months, but she thought nothing of it. There were too many other things on her mind that were much more important. One of which, she was about to straighten out.

Careful in the placement of her steps, Midna slipped on her robe and made her way to the bedroom door. As quiet as possible, she turned the doorknob and exited the room, gently closing the door behind her; not making a single noise as to disturb her husband. He needed his sleep. Herself, not so necessarily.

Tucking her arms by her sides, Midna looked to her left and right, trying to pinpoint the room that Eric stayed in. Although, she wasn't so sure if he even roomed at the castle anymore. He _did_ say that he had a boyfriend now. He could be staying with him. Stopping in her tracks, Midna turned herself around and went towards the hall of stairs that she passed. Rolling her eyes, she slowly made her way down the spiral, careful not to trip in the dark.

At the bottom, Midna saw the poorly illuminated desk of the night guard. He had a pen in his hand, glasses resting on the bridge of his nose, as he furiously wrote away on a piece of staff paper, it looked like. Gentle as to not catch the guard off duty, Midna almost silently approached his desk.

Hearing the light pitter-patter of feet on the floor, the guard looked up from his work and met eyes with Midna, his face flushing red. "Queen Midna..." He muttered in astonishment. "H-how can I help you this late at night?"

Grinning warmly, Midna raised her brows. "I would like to know if Eric Koriku is still rooming in the castle?"

With a quick nod, the guard quickly flipped through a book at his side, and sighed. "I'm sorry to say but he has moved out. He's staying with his boyfriend now. His boyfriend doesn't work at the castle. I have their address, though. Would you like it?"

"Yes, please." Midna nodded her head. "And, I'm just curious, but what is that you're writing?" She pointed to the half written sheet of music.

The guard's eyes followed Midna's finger to his composition and his face again turned rosy. "That's just a piece of music that I'm writing. It's for the cello. Eric's boyfriend plays the cello. It's a song to be played at Zelda's coronation. It's months away, but I've already gotten a score written out and I have to make the parts now. So... Yeah, that's what that is."

Smiling, Midna took the small piece of paper the guard handed her with Eric's address. "Ah, I bet it's lovely. I can't wait to hear it when Link and I return for the ceremony!"

"Th-thank you... Your majesty." The guard faced his desk.

With a nod, Midna turned and made her way out of the palace and to the courtyard. In the moonlight, she took a look at the slip of paper. If she remembered castle town right, the apartment was near Telma's. She practically knew the way, she hoped.

Bypassing the guards that made their rounds around the castle, Midna shivered as a small breeze blew through the courtyard. Once she reached the streets of castle town, she gazed left and she gazed right, and all she saw were a few stray dogs and utter darkness. No lamps were illuminated; nor did porches have small torches lit by their doors - it was just dark.

Thankfully, she was used to darkness because of her own realm. With a shrug and roll of her eyes, Midna carried on, quickly walking down the streets. She picked up quickly on tuning out the sexist, drunk, men sitting in random alleys, giving her catcalls as she went by. The first few made her whole body shiver due to their creepiness. But as it reoccurred, Midna only had to roll her eyes and continue.

In the near distance, Midna saw the dim lighting of Telma's pub and grinned. She felt accomplished, going somewhere, at least. Hurrying her strides, Midna held her robe together a little bit tighter and quickly made it to Telma's. Halting outside the door, Midna took a deep breath in and glanced over her shoulder. From what Zelda had told her before her and Link's wedding, some tragic events had happened on an evening in this part of town.

Apprehensively, Midna turned back to the door and gripped the handle, pushing it open and entering the small pub. Although she remained quiet, she did gather the attention from the few people sitting at a table in the back. Telma was only behind a counter drying a few glasses. With a smug grin on her face, the plump woman placed the glass down and came out from the counter.

Placing a hand on her hip, Telma approached Midna. "What brings you out here at this hour?"

"I need to find Eric." Midna folded her arms to hold her robe together. She had noticed a wandering eye from what seemed to be a scholar in the back of the bar. Turning her head to face him, Midna retorted, "And I don't need you looking at me like that, unless you want my fist to meet with your face."

Quickly, the man's face flashed red, facing his lap and readjusting his glasses. "I apologize, miss. I... you just seem awfully familiar."

Midna rolled her eyes and groaned, turning her whole body to face the scholar, raising one brow and pursing her lips. "Well I'm pretty sure if you recognize me you've met me. I've never seen any twili in Hyrule besides myself, and Zant and his crew back then."

Standing from his seat, the other people at his table paid close attention to their friend. "I know that I have met you, I cannot recall your name, however."

Apprehensively nodding, Midna made an audible grunt and turned back to Telma. "The name's Midna. You probably know my husband more than me."

"Oh, who's your husband?" The scholar raised his head, shyly glancing at the twili.

"Link, the Hero of Twilight," Midna muttered, only making stares through the corner of her eyes.

Without having to see his face fully, the scholar jumped from his seat and ran towards Midna's side. He grabbed her arm and fell to his knees, his head facing the ground. "Oh god, queen Midna, I hadn't realized… I had only seen you in your imp form, I didn't recognize you. I apologize dearly."

Brushing the the man away, Midna grinned and gestured for him to rise to his feet. "Shad, it's fine." Looking past him, Midna saw the rest of The Resistance, except for Rusl. "So, how are the rest of your buds doing?"

Shrugging, Shad had a lighter bounce to his tone. "Ah, all is well. We're going to be researching the Yetis up on Snowpeak. We are staying here before we head out tomorrow."

"They're a very nice couple, I can tell you that." Midna grinned, looking over her shoulder, she remembered what she had came for. "And I hate to leave so early, but I'm looking for somebody and it's important."

Taking a step back and shaking his head, Shad replied, "Oh it's fine! I must be getting back to our research anyways."

With a nod, the two separated, Midna returning her attention to Telma. "So, back to Eric? His place is near here?"

With a smirk, Telma nodded. "Yeah, he is. His boyfriend's place is just down the street, and then you take a right. It's on that road."

"Ah, thank you." Midna shrugged and gathered the fabric of her robe. "What's his boyfriend's name?"

"Cain." Telma crossed her arms. "Used to be Cameron before he came out. That was a few years ago, though. Don't call him that, ever." Midna received a stern glare from Telma.

Agreeing, Midna slowly nodded her head. "Okay... Thank you." Her gaze drifting to the floor, the twili took in a deep breath and turned on the balls of her feet towards the door.

"Are you heading out already?" Telma's words stopped Midna in her tracks. "Wouldn't you want to share a drink with me before you go?"

Sighing, a small grin came upon the queen's face, and she whipped herself around to face the plump woman again. "Sure, why not?" Midna laughed, taking a seat at the bar counter as Telma went behind and grabbed bottles and glasses.

After pouring two small glasses of mead, the plump woman passed one to Midna and then raised her brow. "Shall we toast?"

"Nah," Midna laughed, picking the glass up to her lips. "I'd just say screw it and wing everything."

Giggling and shaking her head. "Now that sounds like something you'd say."

In sync the two women raised their glasses and down with the alcoholic liquid inside them. After setting the glass down, the twili noted the time spelled out on the clock.

"Gosh, I better get going," Midna quickly said, standing from her chair. Hurrying herself, she made her way to the door, and waved to Telma before running out.

She knew her time at the bar was rushed, but she didn't want to show up terribly late at Eric's. With streetlamps still dimly lit, Midna easily found her away around the streets of the town, arriving at what was apparently the right address. Looking up at the building, she saw several lamps lit through the windows, making herself feel a slight bit better about the time of her arrival.

Taking steps up to the door, Midna took a deep breath and knocked once or twice. As soon as she did, she heard some stringed music stop, and feet race down the stairs. The door opened slightly, as Midna saw Eric's eye peek out. As soon as he spotted her, Eric fully opened the door and welcomed her in with a quick gesture of his arm.

"Midna! I didn't expect that you would drop by so late... Where's Link?" Eric looked around for her husband.

"Asleep." Midna smirked. Looking around Eric's apartment, the twili smirked. "So, where's your boyfriend?"

Immediately, Eric's freckles were covered in his blush and his eyes widened. "He's upstairs. He was practicing his cello before you came."

"Ah... May I _meet_ him?" Midna asked, slowly taking strides to head to the stairs.

Rushing to lead her, Eric nodded his head in a nervous manner. "Y-yes. But I must tell you something first."

"What is it?"

"Cain, well... From first glance you would think he's a girl."

"How so?" Midna cocked her head.

"He used to identify as a woman, now he doesn't. He still has the body of a girl." Eric sighed. "Please don't say anything about it. I'm trying to make him as comfortable as possible with the transition."

Smiling, Midna nodded. "Oh it's fine! I respect him one hundred percent."

With a shy smile, Eric's shoulders fell in relief. "Thank you, Midna." Shiftily moving his eyes around, he asked, "So why did you just leave Link at the palace?"

Chuckling, Midna looked away and grinned. "He sleeps like a log. And I couldn't sleep, there's too much on my mind. And, I felt bad for freaking you out earlier. I shouldn't have asked what happened. Obviously, it was a lot to you."

Shrugging his shoulders, the red head passed it off as nothing. "I don't mind. Besides, one day it'll be a story I'd probably tell to my kids."

"Kids?" Midna raised her brows.

"Well... I mean," Eric mumbled while slowing turning his head away, rubbing the inside of his forearm. "I think Cain's the one. I love him so much. And if he's comfortable with it, we could have kids. That's only if he's comfortable, though."

Grinning, Midna placed her hand on his shoulder. "Well, I wish you both the best of luck with that."

"Thanks... Mids," Eric laughed. "Anyways, there is no way that I was the only thing on your mind keeping you awake... What's going on?"

Shrugging her shoulders, Midna's eyes met with the floor. "Ah, it was just something I discussed with Zelda. She knows something and hasn't told me yet."

Nodding his head, Eric sighed, "Ah... I get ya'... And, I have to ask, are you still bothered by the loss of the baby?"

"Link is much more than I am." Midna crossed her arms while leaning against a wall. "I know that we'll eventually have one, but I'm afraid he feels that the mess all happened because he couldn't protect me."

Eric opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by yell from the upstairs.

"Eric, who's that?"

"It's an old friend of mine!"

"Well can you bring them upstairs to talk? A peg slipped and I can't get it back in place."

"Yeah yeah." Eric began his way up the stairs, gesturing to Midna to follow.

As they went to the upper floor of the home, there were papers scattered all over the floor. Staff paper, to be exact. Papers with notes and rhythms written all over them. In the center of the room was a smaller person, instrument faced towards them, as they messed with the pegs that lined up along the scroll. In front of them was a stand with pages of music resting upon them.

As Eric approached them, he asked, "Is it sharp or flat?"

With an irritated groan, the smaller twisted the instrument to face him, revealing the dangling string in the middle. "What do you think?"

"Flat. Very, very flat." Eric sighed, slightly taken back. Taking the instrument in hand, he grabbed the top peg on the right and began to twist it forward with one hand, while continuously plucking the string with the other. "Just tell me when it's in tune."

Midna watch from the side of the room as Eric and his boyfriend worked in agreement to get the string back in its normal pitch. Once finished, the smaller took his bow in hand, took his seat, and then played the two strings at the same time, to confirm it's intonation.

"All done!" The smaller grinned over at his boyfriend.

Smirking, Eric crossed his arms and faced Midna. "Good. Now, Cain, I'd like you to meet a friend of mine." Pointing his hand at the twili, he introduced her, "Cain, meet Midna. Midna, meet Cain."

Cain turned to take a look at her, and for once the twili saw his full face. Eric was right, he did look a bit more feminine. His face was round and his cheeks soft. His frame was smooth and flow-some, like a woman's. Plus, he stood a lot shorter than Eric. His dirty blond hair was smooth and shiny, and was parted on the left side of his face. His nose was rather stubby and round, but it fit with his eyes. And on the bridge of his nose rested a pair of round spectacles, giving him the 'scholarly' look.

"Nice to meet you, Midna!" Cain beamed. His voice was higher pitched, too.

"It's nice to meet you too, Cain." She smiled softly. "What are you practicing?"

Shrugging, the smaller rested his instrument on its side, to the right of his chair. "Ah, it's just some music for the festival to celebrate the victory in the war of twilight."

"Oh, it's almost that time of year again?" Midna asked.

"Third anniversary!" The smaller gleamed, holding up three fingers and crossing one leg over the other.

"Ah, Link will be happy to hear that." The twili nodded to herself.

"Link? As in, hero of twilight, Link?" Cain's eyes widened and his mouth hung opened slightly. "You know him?" He turned to Eric as well and spaced out his hands. "You know him? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Cain, honey," Eric laughed. "Midna is his wife. She is _married_ to him. And Mids… how long will it be since you two tied the knot?"

"Almost a year, I believe."

Cain gaped over at Midna and you could hear him trying to keep his screaming internal as he covered his face with his hands. "Oh my goddesses, I can't believe this!" Uncovering his face with his hands, showing off his glowing, red cheeks. Slowly dropping his hands to his sides, he asked, "C-can I meet him? I've heard so much about him… he sounds so amazing…" His faded away into nothing as he began to stare down at his hands in shock.

"He really is," Midna chuckled. "If he weren't so sleepy all the time."

"Oh goddesses." Eric threw his head back, grinning, while lightly laughing. "Tell me about it. When he was ill and Zelda 'n I were watching over him… he slept so much. I mean, it was expected because he was sick, but man. Days straight. He'd be out. I'd have to wake him to feed him."

Cain looked over at his boyfriend, smiling. "Wow… what a hero, hehe."

Midna rolled her eyes and smirked. "I'd have to say… what he did was pretty amazing. But sleep… no no no… couldn't interrupt his sleep. He hated when I'd wake him up and such."

Cain giggled, "Ah, man. He sounds more dorky than heroic."

"That is _quite_ the truth," the twili laughed herself. "But less about my husband and I, I really wanted to meet you after Eric told Link and I about you."

Noticing his face turn red, Cain turned away rubbed the nape of his neck with his palm, crossing his legs, and swinging his feet back and forth underneath the chair. "Well… my name's Cain, as Eric already told you. I've known Eric for a few months now. He just moved in with me… I'm Zelda's cousin, I'm her dad's niece…" As his voice fade off, his eyes widened and face turned red. "I mean _nephew_ … dammit, sorry. Um.. anyways… my mom is the princess' aunt."

Nodding her head slowly, Midna acknowledged his identity and carried on as if nothing had happened. "Ah, that's nice. So, I hear you're playing at her coronation?"

Trying to laugh off his previous mistake, Cain shrugged. "Yeah, I'm the best cellist she can find. _Technically_ , it's a violoncello and I'm a violoncellist, but it's too long to say on a day to day basis…" Taking a pause and making eye contact with the twili, he took a breath and carried on. "Anyways… yeah, I'm given a solo, which the arranger is still copying the part for me. It's the theme played at major events of the royal family. But, in a grander key. With grander harmonies. And pauses. And rhythms. It's just… grander."

"I see… can I hear you play?" Midna asked.

"Of course, of course!" Cain quickly lifted his cello and rested it between his legs, taking his bow in hand. "What would you like to hear?"

"Your favorite piece. Something you just put all your passion into."

With a weak grin, Cain sheepishly placed his fingers on the strings and placed his bow. "Th-this is the Song of Time... It's said that once it was played on a magic ocarina that could alter time."

With an inhale through his nostrils, Cain shut his eyes, and his hands worked together to create the melody passed down. His vibrato created warmth for the minor key. And with a crisp cut off, he opened his eyes.

"That was beautiful."

* * *

Link groaned, feeling light, that he hadn't seen in almost a year, hit him in the face. Rolling across the bed, he felt Midna's side cold and sat up in an instant. His heart calmed a bit when he saw her standing in the washroom, dressed in her formal gowns while putting her hair up. In the mirror, Link saw he made eye contact with her, and she smirked.

"Well hello, sleepy head." Midna turned to face Link, lowering her hands from her hair. Approaching the bed, she sat on the edge and faced her husband. "Didn't think that you'd ever get up, heh."

Shrugging his shoulders, Link yawned. "Neither did I. Why are y'all dressed up?"

"I'm going off to meet with Zelda," Midna slowly spoke, making direct eye contact with Link. "And I told Eric and his boyfriend that you'd go to the archery range with them today."

"What time did you tell them I'd be there?" Link stared at her with wide eyes.

Looking back at the clock, Midna folded her hands in her lap. "In about an hour. I'd suggest you'd go and get ready."

Standing from the bed, Link made his way to the washroom as Midna headed towards the door. Stopping at where their paths intersected Link looked up at her and smirked.

"How long will you be with Zelda today?"

"Ah… I really don't know. There's much political matters to be taken care of." Midna shrugged her shoulders. "You'll have a fun time with Eric, though. You two can do some catching up, anyways." Leaning down a small bit, Midna met her lips with his, and then pulled away. "I'll see you tonight, hon. I love you."

As Midna walked passed him, he turned quickly and softly said, "I love you, too." Grinning as she walked by, his face turned red. Quietly, he mumbled to himself, "Still can't believe she agreed to marry me."

Taking his time to ready himself for the day, Link noticed his old tunic stuffed in the dresser. Carefully, he held it up, letting it unfold and hang from his hands. Taking a quick skim over the olive green fabric, he saw the mended tears and stains. With a sigh, he loosened the fittings on the sides and slipped it over his head, shoving his arms through the sleeves. Once on, he tightened the fittings, tied the belt around his waist, and slipped the cap on his head.

Looking at himself in the mirror, Link twisted around to get a look of the tunic and grinned. "Just like the good old days." Grabbing his boots, he sat along the edge of the bed and put them on. Standing, he placed his hands on his hips, and smirked before leaving the room.

As he made his way down to the archery yard, Link realized how empty the castle felt. And then he remembered the events of the previous night. He still had to tell Midna of what Kokau told him. Last night, he was in too much of a shock to really think it through. And she was already gone this morning before he remembered. Link grumbled to himself, wishing he had remembered, and only hoped he would recall it when he saw her again later in the evening.

Once down in the archery yard, which again, seemed oddly empty, Link retrieved a bow which was similar to his. He shot a few arrows, realizing how out of shape he still was, before hearing a familiar voice call him from behind.

Before he could even turn around, Link was trapped in an arm lock from a much taller, Eric. "Hey, hey, hey!" Link grinned, trying to maneuver himself out of the red head's grip. "What's with all that?" Link laughed before seeing the shorter person behind Eric. "Who's that?" He raised his voice in question.  
"Link, this is Cain, my boyfriend. Cain, this is Link." Eric introduced the two.

Link approached Cain, who he realized was about the same height as him, and stuck his hand out. "Nice to meet ya'."

Cain sheepishly took his hand and shook it, a wide grin on his face covering his red cheeks. "Nice to meet you, t-too… I've heard so much about you, it's an honor to meet you." He spoke in a nervous tone.

Link shrugged his shoulders and smirked. "What I did doesn't make me any higher up than anybody. I don't really like being treated so differently because of that." Reaching down to grab his bow and an arrow, he set the arrow, but didn't pull back on the string. "Do you guys wanna shoot some with me? I need to get back in shape anyways."

"Sure." Eric went back to grab a bow, and turned to Cain. "Do you want one?"

Shaking his head, Cain crossed his arms. "No thank you, I'll pass. I'd rather watch from the sides."

Shrugging, Eric sighed, "Whatever suits you."

As Cain went to sit on the edge, Eric stood himself right next to Link. "So, I talked to Midna last night."

"Yeah." Link pulled back the arrow and aimed it at the target. "What about?" Releasing the arrow, it flung across and missed the target completely. With a bitter curse underneath his breath, Link reached for a second arrow.

"You." Eric smirked, releasing his arrow, watching it hit the bulls-eye.

Dropping his bow from his stance, Link dropped his shoulders and faced Eric. "What _about_ me?"

Not picking up a second arrow, Eric faced Link. "Well, first, you tell me how you're doing about the loss of the baby."

His jaw gaping, Link furrowed his brows, placed his second arrow, and pulled back the string on the bow. "I don't want to talk about it." Releasing it, the arrow again missed the target. "Goddesses damn it." His face grew red with his frustration.

Placing his hands on the shorter's shoulders, Eric sighed. "So you're not really handling it well?"

"No." Link looked away from Eric, crossing his arms.

"It wasn't your fault," Eric tried to reason with him. "You didn't know it was going to happen. You had suspicions but they weren't enough to give you an idea. It's okay. It's not like you two still can't have children."

"I love her and I couldn't protect her." Link dropped his bow and stared at the ground. "I can protect the whole goddesses damned light realms and twilit realms but I can't freaking protect my own wife."

"Link it's not your fault." Eric wrapped his arms around the shorter and held him close. "You couldn't have done anything about it. And you two got justice. You can still have kids... it's okay."

With a frustrated huff, Link steered his way out of Eric's arms. "It's not okay and it never will be. I couldn't protect my own wife." Taking another arrow, Link held it up to the bow and pulled back the string, releasing it, watching the arrow fly and hit the center of target.

With a concerned sigh, Eric continued to shoot arrows alongside Link in silence. He felt the burning stare of Cain watching them. He would have to explain it to him later, what was going on. He hoped that he would be able to help. Eric wanted to help Link and Midna as much as he could. He cared for them like they were his brother and sister.

"Link, I just want you to know that I'm always here for you."

"I know."

And the arrows continued to fly.


	9. Chapter 8

**A/N : Sorry for such a long time between updates. It's really hard to write this school year. I'm mentally drained by the time I finish. And I have to do a lot of music work because I signed up for the 2-year-intro-to-hell-prestigious-college-level-makes-me-want-to-cry music class so I have a lot to deal with. And I've just been really bad mentally, so like, I want to write but I haven't had the motivation. I don't know how I honestly finished this chapter. Plus I discovered Undertale so I'm literally a trash pit for some skeletons and a sexy robot. Hopefully I'll be able to update quicker because of the upcoming holidays but I really doubt. I'll try to update in December at least.**

 **Plus, sorry this is a really short chapter. As said, I 've had no motivation. I would have never finished this if I didn't leave it this short.**

* * *

Link stood in front of the small vanity in he in Midna's room, staring at the scars that lined his chest while he heard Midna hum in the washroom. He sighed and let an unrest frown take its place on his lips. He thought he was doing better but today made him realize he wasn't. Turning the cloth in his hands, Link furrowed his brows and stared down. With an unrested grunt, he threw the garment to the floor and thrusted his fists by his sides, tightly closing his eyes. Pulling his arms up and pulling at his hair, Link clenched his jaw, repeatedly shaking his head as he began to pace around in circles.

With all the small grunts and groans he made, he never noticed Midna exit the washroom. She stood in the doorway, her hair wrapped up in a towel, and her nightwear covering her. Her eyes stared wide with each step Link made.

"Sweetie?" Midna softly spoke, reaching her hand out and placing it on Link's arm.

The hylian jumped, slightly startled, and looked over at his wife. Midna noted how red his cheeks were, a top of the sweat that dribbled down his face.

"I… I'm sorry, Mids." Swallowing his spit, Link blinked dramatically and stuttered, "I didn't mean to freak out again.. I.. I'm sorry."

Frowning and releasing a sigh, Midna approached Link, taking his hands in hers, she looked right in his eyes. "Link, no. It's fine. I know there are a lot of things that stress you. And I'll work with you to help you with that."

"I told myself I _wouldn't_ panic in front of Eric, and yet _I did._ " Link balled his fists and tightly shut his eyes. "I didn't want to yet I did and I didn't want to I didn't mean to I… I…" As his voice grew softer, Midna heard the faint cuss underneath his breath.

"Link," Midna looked sternly in his eye. "We will work this out. I know it's not going to be easy. But I'm going to help you. When I first met you, I know you weren't this stressed. I'm going to help you get back to that." Noticing Link's eyes widen and his shoulders loosen up, she lowered her tone. "But for now, we need to get some rest. It's late. Tomorrow is our last day here. While I was with Zelda today, a message came from our realm - my parents have returned. And it seems that Zelda and I accomplished most of what we needed to today. We are meeting with her and Eric tomorrow to discuss the outcomes."

With a heavy sigh, Link raised his arms and brushed off Midna's hands. "Okay." Without taking a second thought, the blond trudged right past the twili, crawling underneath bed sheets, curling into a fetal position.

Exhaling through her nose, Midna closed her eyes and shook her head before returning back to the washroom. Looking into the mirror, she removed her towel from her hair. Slowly, she began to her orange locks straight, but she slowly came to a stop. Over her shoulder, she looked back at Link - he was completely covered by blankets.

Placing her comb on the edge of the sink, Midna turned and left the room, blowing out her small candle on the way out. Reaching the bedside, she, too, crawled underneath the sheets. Lying on her side, Midna looked right at Link. He faced her, but he was not paying attention, his eyes were forced shut and his jaw was clenched.

Reaching her hand out, Midna gently wrapped it around his side. "Link," she whispered. "It's okay. I'm here. Let's get some rest."

Slowly opening his eyes, Link looked directly into Midna's. Taking a deep breath, his eyes flickered away as he scooted himself closer to his wife. "There's something I need to tell you and it's been bugging me."

"What is it?" Minda asked, tightening her grip on Link.

"So…" he started softly. "You know how I see Kokau… right…" Link's eyes wavered a slight bit while waiting for her response. Taking note of her nod, he continued. "When you were talking with Zelda the other night and I was out in the hall… I saw him."

"What did he say?"

"He has… he has…" desperate to not say specifically what it was, Link made strong eye contact with Midna, biting his lip.

"Oh."

With a shiftiness to his posture, Link mumbled shallowly, "Kokau calls him Aiden."

"That's a nice name." Midna grinned.

Link nodded, looking away, a glossy glaze running over his eyes.

Frowning, Midna scooted herself closer to her husband, snaking her arms under his, wrapping herself around him. "Hey, hon, I _know_ this upsets you, but, it's okay. I promise you, things are going to get better. We'll have a lil' kiddo soon."

With a sigh, Link rested his head in the crook of her neck. "I know, I just don't want to lose anybody again."

"You won't lose anybody again."

"I lost my mom. I had lost Ilia and Talo and Malo and Beth and Colin. I had lost Zelda. I had lost you. I lost my dad. And I lost the baby." Link didn't even look up, but rather, continued to hide his face against his wife. His fingers found their way across Midna and held on to her at the small of her back.

"Link, you couldn't control those things," Midna whispered, her lips brushing against his forehead.

"I couldn't stop them, though," he whined.

"It's not your fault. You did all that you could." Midna placed her lips on his forehead.

"I could have done more though… I could have.. I… I could have stopped those twili things… I could haved helped my mom get better… I could've protected Ilia and Talo and Malo and Beth and Colin… I could've protected you… twice…" Link's voice fading off to nothing. He only shuddered, staring blankly in front of him.

"Link," Midna whispered into her husband's ear. She got no response. "Link." Still no response. "Link, please listen to me." Link's face only remained stoic and gray. "Link," Midna sighed. "I'm still here. Ilia, Malo, Talo, Beth, and Colin are safe - you saved them. You couldn't do anything more than you did to help you mom. Your dad gave his life for you. He chose to do that. He did that for you."

"But I-"

"No." Midna placed her finger on his lip. "Just because you think you could have won't change the situation. Your dad did that for you to make up for the years that he neglected your existence. He did something to let you live and be happy. We all want you to be happy. I want you to be happy. Zelda wants you to be happy. Eric wants you to be happy. Telma wants you to be happy…. and we'd all do anything to help you get there."

Looking away from the twili, Link shrugged his shoulders, withdrawing back to himself. "I guess… I don't know." The blond took a deep breath and sighed. "You tell me that I shouldn't feel this way but I can't help it. I felt like I could've done something. I could've helped prevent half of this living hell."

Pressing his head into the crook of her head, Midna hummed. "Link, it's okay." In a tune of a twilit lullaby, she began to sing. "I'm never too far away my dear in every hug I hide." Her hand trailed down Link's back, pulling him closer to her. "Just like the oceans of the shore my love is like a tide."

Link remained silent for several minutes before mumbling, "I love you, Midna."

"I love you too, Link."

Link fidgeted in his seat, knitting his fingers together as he waited alongside his wife for Zelda. The moment she entered the room, Link and Midna rose to their feet out of Hylian gesture. As soon as Zelda directed them to sit, she did the same.

"So." Zelda intently eyed Midna and grinned. "As of yesterday, the Twilight Realm and Hyrule are now political allies. And, it's official - I will be Queen without a spouse. Since Queen Midna has seconded my actions, I can do it legally."

"Oh, good. Great!" Link smiled at his wife and Zelda. "Does this mean what you needed us for was resolved?"

"Yes, it was, Link." Zelda nodded. "Now, Midna, you said your parents had returned?"

"I did." Midna shrugged.

"Shouldn't you… get to them? Have they even met Link?"

Smirking, Midna shrugged. "I suppose. And no, they haven't."

Standing, Zelda rose her brows at the twili. "Then I declare that you must go back to your own realm. I'll come and visit soon. Once I appoint an advisor." Pausing, glancing at Link as he and his wife stood. "Don't worry - I'll bring Eric along, too."

With a sigh of relief, Link grinned and nodded. He walked alongside Midna as they exited the princess' chambers. Returning to their room, they gathered whatever they had. Link carried the two, rather small, bags. Even though their departure was to be short noticed, due to Zelda practically pushing them out, as they exited the castle, there was a carriage waiting for them, to take them to the closest point to the Gerudo Desert.

As Link helped Midna in first, he noticed the driver of the horses was the familiar worker of the goddesses, Impa. The woman gave him a sly smirk as he entered the carriage. Once he was in, and the door was closed, Link heard command from Impa, and he felt the carriage slowly begin to move. He seated himself beside Midna. She rested her head on his shoulders, which, to him, seemed odd of her. She never really did it because it always made her neck cramp because of their height difference.

"Middy…" Link whispered into her ear, wrapping his arm around her waist. "Are you okay?"

"It's just a headache. And I'm tired." Midna sighed. "And I'll have to warp us to the mirror chambers. That takes… a lot of energy "

"We can always walk. I don't mind." Link smiled at her.

She shook her head. "Nah. The heat would be worse than a warp. Besides, then we can quickly get home."

"I know… I just don't want you overexerting yourself." Link patted her arm with his free hand. "I just don't want anything to happen to you."

"I know, Link."

Link sat silent for a minute. Then asked Midna to move, so he could readjust himself. He laid across the carriage bench, so Midna could rest on him. With a grin, Midna laid on him, placing her head on his chest. The steady tha-thump, tha-thump from his heart supplied a smooth rhythm that eased her for a short nap. The travel from castle town to Lake Hyrule was lengthy in time, but it didn't take up the whole day. Link presumed they'd be at the mirror chambers by evening.

It was around mid-afternoon when the two felt the carriage come to a halt. Sitting themselves up, gathering their luggage, Impa opened the door, letting in the setting sun. Once she helped Link and Midna out, she rested her hand on Midna's shoulder.  
"You sure it's safe for you to warp all the way there?" The sheikah furrowed her brows, pursing her lips. "I don't want anything bad to happen to any of you."

Midna shrugged her shoulders. "Eh, just this once shouldn't be too bad. I won't do it later on, though. That'd be too dangerous."

With a sigh, the reserved woman took her hand back. "Okay. Next time you travel over, please message Zelda before hand. She will warp you to the castle and back."

"Okayyyy." Midna grinned, looking over at her husband, who stood looking at the two women with a clueless expression. "Tell Zelda we made it home safely. I'll see you!"

After the tan woman waved her hand, Midna and Link dissolved into fragments of twilight, only to be reformed back in front of the mirror chamber.

The blond glanced over at his wife, who, in actuality, looked unusually dazed. "What was all that for?"

Her face turned a deep hue of purple as she refocused. "Nothing… ah.. let's go home, sweetie."  
Uneasily, Link took her hand and led her to the portal, not letting go. Whatever was going on seemed… strange. He assumed she was just a tad bit sick, from the tiredness and the phased look on her face. When the couple was returned to the shroud of twilight, the gate guards took their bags and rushed them off to the castle.

"Would you like a carriage back to the palace? Or would you two prefer to make your own way there?" the armored knight asked Link.

"We're just going to take a short walk back, to talk abou things. Can you tell Midna's parent's we'll be back soon?" Link asked.

With a quick nod, the guard ran off. Midna was leaning against Link a lot more than normal, he tightened his grip on her hand and began to slowly walk. She walked along with him, all while resting her head on his shoulders.

"What is it that you're not telling me?"

Midna shrugged. "There was just _a lot_ that Zelda and I talked about that I need to think about, and it's kinda stressing. A bunch of… political stuff. Stuff you wouldn't really understand."

Looking at his own feet for a moment, Link sighed. "Oh. Okay." Taking a pause, he bit his lip. "Let's get you home. You still don't look well."


	10. Chapter 9

**A/N: I really want to apologize for not updating for several months. My mental health kinda went downhill and I lost all motivation to write. I just picked it up recently, as I'm in a writing class again and it's kinda making feel a bit better about myself. But I still feel like crap ay! Plus my college music class has turned to hell as I have to write a symphonic orchestra piece (concert band and string orchestra combine!). But the main reason for not updating was my mental health. I haven't really been able to handle a lot at this point in time. I read through all the reviews I got while I was ill and... I'm really kinda annoyed but I'm not going to address most of them. Only one. To the person who said a snarky comment about how I said I was going to try to update biweekly (which was almost two years ago! when I was working on my first fanfiction! when I was in 10th grade and not a ton to worry about!) please leave me alone? I never said on this fic that I would be updating biweekly. I never said that for this fic. I have learned that writing takes time, and that with school, writing time is limited!**

 **Anyways - thanks for those who are still here after this long time! I'm sorry this chapter is kinda short! They'll start to get longer again. I just need to put this to help push me to start writing again.**

* * *

Link stared at the wall as Midna laid in their bed. It was rather early in the morning in the twilit realm - the couple easily snuck into their own palace without waking Midna's parents. Link insisted for a while that Midna should rest the whole day, but she refused each time, only saying that her mishap was just an episode.

The blond pondered his wife as she stood in front of their mirror, analyzing her frame as she did her hair. Her eyes wandered everywhere else on her except where her hands were focused. Link just shook his head, crossing one leg over the other, staring at the door.

"Do we have to go to council today?" The hylian mumbled. "I really don't want you to, after your so-called episode."

Spinning around to face her husband, the twili had one brow raise and a smirk on her lips. "Link, I'm _fine_. You need to stop worrying - I'm completely fine." Link just rolled his eyes, as his wife began to giggle. "Besides, you have to meet my parents."

* * *

Link sat next to Midna as they watched the council fill in. They all came in with smiles and good news, apparently.

"They all seem glad that we're back," Link whispered, resting his hand atop Midna's.

She nodded. "They do. But, they also know the former king and queen are coming today. They were the people they knew as rulers when they were children."

Link shrugged, slouching in his throne. He felt like a mess and assured himself that he definitely looked it. With a sigh, he glanced over at Midna once again. He was in denial. She was telling him that she was fine. He knew she was not. Oh how he wished Khina were here. He needed her. She was the only one Link really trusted as much as Midna.

A loud cheer broke Link's train of thought. The chairs of the council were filled. Midna and the delegates rose. Link followed.

Entering from the back were two, older, twili. Link presumed, Midna's mother and father.

Turning to Link, Midna whispered, "My mother's name is Rellen, and my father is Ryln." Link nodded. "My father will probably be tough on you tonight."

With a deep breath, Link smiled at his wife, then returned to face the council and the former rulers. There were small thrones placed in the center aisle of the delegate's desks. The couple passed their seats at first, and approached the thrones of Link and Midna. Ryln stood in front of his, and Rellen in front of Midna.

Link knew twili were tall - but he was also a short hylian. He gulped as Ryln's red pupils stared into his own. The expression on his face wasn't the most pleasant, either. Link grinned awkwardly, feeling sweat bead up around his hairline. With a grunt, Ryln took a step back, turned, took his wife's hand and made his way to his seat.

As the man sat, his eyes continued to focus on Link. In sync, the former and current monarchs took their seats, signaling the start of the session. The hylian fidgeted in his seat as the older generation began to talk. He felt his heart race and the sweat bead up around his forehead. He tried to discreetly play with his hands, knotting his fingers together, to attempt to assuage his nerves. Sadly, his motives weren't kept so hidden.

"Sir Link," one of the council members in the front of the room spoke. "Are you okay? You don't look so well…"

Link felt all the eyes of the room center in on him. His face flushed and he sadistically laughed. "I'm fine.. I'm fine.. I'm just a little bit nervous.. that's all…" He tried to keep his cool in front of Midna's parents. That was what he was so brutally scared about.

"Link," he heard his wife. She rested her hand on top of his. "It's okay. Please, go rest. You look really ill, actually."

"Midna I'm fi-" Link tried to shrug it off before being cut off.

"Link," Midna firmly stated, "Please just go rest."

With a sigh and frown, Link nodded. "Okay."

He began to stand, feeling his knees shake. As Link began to walk away, he sternly concentrated on the movement of his legs - he felt like a dizzy spell was taking over and he wanted to fall. He didn't turn back to face the council as he was struggling to make it out of the room, right at the doorway, he halted. The council had already returned to vital discussions - he was off on the side. Nobody noticed him continuing to stand there.

Taking a quick glance back at Midna, Link grinned. She looked and sounded like a powerful leader. Unlike himself, taking a sigh and sniffle, Link rested his head against the wall, feeling a cringing paint evelop him.

Lifting his head back up to continue walking, blackness scourged Link's vision, his knees buckling, his body hitting the ground with a thud. He groaned, curling up in a ball. A high pitched ringing in his ears and stars in his eyes. Link heard a familiar voice call his name, until it all faded into nothing.

* * *

Link was out cold in the bed. The council members had helped Midna get her husband back to their room. It was just her, her parents and Link in the room now.

Ryln paced around the room, arms folded and brows furrowed. "Why is your husband like this? He should be stronger than that." He spat. "Why didn't you just marry somebody of your own kind? You wouldn't have to deal with this bullsh-"

"Father!" Midna hissed at him. "I married who I love. I love him. And after all he's been though, he has anxiety issues. And there are times, like today, which it is bad. He was already stressed because he knew that _you_ aren't that fond of him. He just wants to do his best at his job. Plus, you two don't know what we've been through in the past year! There's been a lot that has hurt him."

"Like _what_?" Ryln grumbled. "He's the Hero of Twilight, he should be able to handle anything!"

"No, he shouldn't be faced with that responsibility," Midna sighed bitterly, taking her husband's hand in hers. "He's a person, too. Fighting in a war, by himself… that really affected him."

It was then, that Rellen spoke up. "Midna has a point. He's just a person, like you or I. He's not a god-like being. He's a mortal like you and I."

Midna smiled a bit, seeing her mother was on her side.

"Tch." Ryln grumbled. "I still don't like him."

Midna rolled her eyes, before her face flushed red from her mother's words.

"So when were you going to tell us about this?" Rellen pointed to the half-finished crib in the side of the room.

Laughing sarcastically, Midna shrugged her shoulders. "Oh… that was from when I erm… miscarried."

"We heard about that," Rellen spoke softly. "We heard about it as soon as it was the reason that the old council was dismissed. Now, what I'm talking about is _now_. I can sense things, honey. I'm your mother. There's twili magic because of our direct relationship - I can sense it."

"Mom I'm _not_ pregnant," Midna abruptly responded. "We haven't really tried in a while."

Rellen shrugged her shoulders, resting her hand on her daughter's shoulders. "You think about that again and come talk to me. I want to be the first to hear." Kissing her daughter's cheek, Rellen headed to the door, opening it, allowing Ryln out first.

Once she exited and was about to close the door, Rellen popped her head back in. "You better tell him before you start showing."

Midna furrowed her brows in confusion. Her mother was crazy. Her mother… just wanted a grandchild. That's all it was. Midna laughed, rubbing the top of Link's hand. Khina was coming up to see Link soon. Midna just wanted her to check him over after the day's incident. She would figure she'd ask her a few questions when she was here.

Khina was the doctor, after all.


	11. Chapter 10

**A/N: Ahh I tried for a longer chapter. I had like a four day weekend so... I actually had time to write welp. I just want to write the next chapter but I also gotta get it just right cus it's a really important one :3c**

 **aaa anyways, enjoy!**

* * *

Link grumbled, twisting his shoulders and slowly creeping his eyes open. His head hurt; it throbbed. His ears rung and his vision was fuzzy. Although everything around him was a blur - he could tell he was alone. Somehow, he was in their room? Last he checked, he was leaving the council meeting. He didn't ever remember getting to his room, and in his bed. Maybe Midna was right, he was sick, and because of that he doesn't remember what happened.

And then the door opened, and Link closed his eyes. He heard Midna's voice, and Khina's.

"Yeah he's in bed… I think the stress got to him. Like he already seems to be a nervous wreck, and then my dad… my dad... " Midna groaned. "I think it was my dad that put him over the edge."

Khina nodded. "Ah. I think I've discovered an herb that will help with his anxiety. Come back down to my office after this and we'll get it for him."

Smiling, Midna nodded. "Thank you." She took a pause and looked over at her husband, giggling for a second. "Ah.. he's still out."

Midna walked up to the bedside, while Khina followed right behind her. Midna took her husband's hand, kissed him on the cheek, and whispered in his ear. "Hey sleepyhead, time to get up."

She only had elicited a groan as he fluttered his eyes open. While his vision was still only a bit fuzzy, he could make out the two women standing before them

"Link," Khina took over, welcoming him with her warm voice, "How're you doing? I heard about your incident earlier?"

Link's face flushed a rosy red. "Yeah…"

"So how are you feeling now?" She asked.

"Well, I'm kinda sore all over… and it's hard to see. It's a lil fuzzy," Link admitted.

Khina nodded her head. "I see. Those sound like normal symptoms after a small black out like earlier. You'll be fine. Just take a day's rest and you should be good by the morning. If not… come see me."

Khina backed away from the bed and began to head toward the door, motioning for Midna to follow. "I'm going to down to my office with Midna to get some medicine for you, she'll be back shortly!"

Softly, Link nodded his head. After the door had been shut behind the two women, Link dug himself back underneath the blankets, trying to drown out the ringing in his ears. He just wanted to sleep. He just wanted to be left alone. He just felt immensely embarrassed about what had happened earlier. Midna's father probably thought horridly of him now.

"I just want to fall asleep." Link buried his head into his pillow. "And never wake back up."

* * *

Midna walked alongside Khina. She had never really noticed how short the woman was for a twili. She was short and stout. Midna knew she was young, but she didn't know, honestly.

"Is there something bothering you?" She asked out of the blue, catching Midna off guard.

The queen's face flashed red, as she giggled a bit. "Nah, I'm good. I think. I don't know." She began to ramble off into a quiet mumble.`

Khina turned her head to face the queen, raising a brow in suspicion. "Are you sure? You don't seem alright."

Taking a sigh, Midna shrugged her shoulders. "It's my mom."

Surprised, the nurse questioned the queen. "What is it about your mom?"

Shaking her head, Midna groaned, "After the incident with Link today, my parents helped me get him back to our quarters. And god she's either gone mad or wants it so bad she think it's real."

"What did your mother say?" Khina halted, taking Midna's arm in her hand.

Midna laughed it off and just shrugged her shoulders, "My mom thinks I'm pregnant. I'm pretty sure she just wants grandchildren a lot.."

Khina only stared into Midna's eyes, which baffled the queen.

"Well, are you?"

"Am I what?"

"Expecting?"

Midna laughed like Khina was crazy, shrugging it off. "No, no.. no! I can't be." She took a breath, becoming a bit more serious. "I mean, I don't know, honestly. I might be. I might not be. I don't know."

Khina continued to walk, Midna right by her side. "Did you miss you last bleed?"

Thinking for a moment, Midna shook her head. "I did. I thought it was because of stress."

Khina shrugged her shoulders. "It could be, but I'm here. We can determine that when we get down in my office."

Grinning, her cheeks flushing red, Midna continued to walk by Khina's side. "Okay."

* * *

Midna stared at herself with a blank face, eyes in disbelief. Her attention was dragged away when Khina spoke again.

Taking a sip of her tea, Khina raised her brows. "So when are you going to tell him?"

Midna shrugged her shoulders, in a dazed way. "I don't know." She paused. "How far along am I?"

"More or less, eight or nine weeks. It'll probably start to show more at twelve. It won't be obvious until around fifteen." Khina smirked. "Link probably wouldn't notice until thirteen or fourteen."

Midna pursed her lips and sighed, "Well, I'll have to figure out how to tell him. I won't do it until around that mark. I want to surprise him, but I'm also just very… nervous."

"Why are you nervous?" Khina questioned, raising her brow.

Knotting her fingers and furrowing her brows, Midna gave a weary look at the nurse. "After last time… I just don't want anything to go wrong. I still feel like it was my fault the last time."

"Nonsense." Khina shook her head. "It was neither you nor Link's fault. Neither of you know what the former council's plot was. Neither of you could've done anything to stop it."

"I know… I just," Midna sighed. "I just feel horrible about it."

"Well," Khina reassured, "You're going to do completely fine this time."

Changing the subject, Midna shrugged. "I don't know when to tell him, though." Her voice was dry and emotionless - despite Khina's encouragement, she was still as nervous as ever.

Thinking for a moment, Khina's eyes lit up and a grin came across her face as she sparked with an idea. "Did you and Link ever go on an official honeymoon?"

Raising her brows, Midna stared at Khina in question. "Well, no. Why?"

Khina paced around the room, shrugging her shoulders, giving off an innuendo. "You could always go on one."

"And tell him then?"

"Or you can wait it out until he notices and then tell him. It's your call." Khina returned to leaning against the wall, sipping her tea. "It's your call."

Midna sighed, distraught in thought. She didn't know what to do. She grit her teeth and played with her thumbs, sighing before making her decision. "I'm going to let him find out."

Now, interested, Khina raised her brows. "How?"

The queen's face flushing red, she smirked. "We'll go on a honeymoon, like you said. And until that point where he'll notice it, I'll wear my covering wear, saying I'm cold. Which would make sense, because it's always so cold here. And when we're there, which will probably be in Hyrule, he'll be able to see and figure it out himself."

Khina giggled. "Oh he'll be happy."

* * *

Link packed his bags, a wide grin on his face. He had anticipated this trip to Hyrule ever since Midna told him about it. And it wasn't even for business! It was going to be just the two of them! Alone! Together! In the silence for a secluded patch of land! In a mansion! According to Midna, she had asked Zelda if they could use her getaway for a week. And, she obliged kindly.

Link admitted, after Khina had started giving him the medicine he's taking… he started to feel a lot better. Midna was proud of him, too. He was having less panic attacks. He felt a lot more… confident. He was able to talk with Midna's father normally, and he felt extremely accomplished from that.

Midna had seemed a little bit… off, however. She seemed to be hiding something, it seemed. She covered herself carefully, watched her words with caution. Link had only assumed it was a surprise for this trip they were going on.

Nonetheless, Link was very excited. Packing the last of his things, he tied the drawstring bag together and slung it over his shoulder, ready to grab his wife's belongings. When he turned around, he saw Midna finishing up her bag. She wore a loose sweater along with her skirt, which confused Link. He knew it was getting towards the winter months here in the Twilight, but it was close to summer in Hyrule.

He decided not to ask her, though. _Maybe she didn't know it would be warm in Hyrule. Maybe she thought it was also going to be a winter month in Hyrule_ , Link thought. Shaking his head only slightly, he reached for Midna's bag and slung it over his shoulder as well. He began to head for the door when Midna called his name.

"Link, aren't you going to take these?" Midna held up the bottle of his medicine.

Raising a brow, he shrugged his shoulders. "Well, no. I'm feeling better. And I'm going to be away why should I need them?"

Midna rolled her eyes and smirked at her callow husband. "Because you're prescribed to take one daily, and if you don't, you won't start feeling better again.

Groaning, Link slouched his shoulders. "Okay. Can you just stuff them in my bag, then?" In only a second, he felt a tug at the bag on his back.

After Midna put her husband's meds in his bag, she stepped away. "You head on out to the carriage with the bags, I'll be right out, I've got to use the bathroom really quick. "

Smirking, Link nodded as he began to head out the door. "Will do, my princess."

Midna blinked her eyes widely, covering her face with a grin as a blush flushed across her cheeks. Link hadn't called her that in a while. That was proof, to her, that his medicine was helping him. As soon as the door shut behind Link, Midna quickly made herself into the bathroom, locking the door behind her.

Oh goddesses, how she was nervous. Lifting up her sweater, looking at her side view in the mirror, Midna pursed her lips. For a while it had just looked like she had gained a little bit of weight to her frame, but now it was obvious. She would have to show Link that night. She knew he would be excited, but at the same time, like she, scared. Midna only had hoped that Link hadn't noticed already. She had already felt her clothing get tighter in certain spots. She was pretty sure he hadn't noticed.

But she really hoped he hadn't.

Placing her hands on her stomach, Midna sighed. Pulling her sweater back down, Midna left the bathroom, and hurried to go catch up with Link.

When she got to the carriage, Link had just finished putting her bag in. Turning around to see her, he grinned. He helped her up into the carriage and followed in right behind her. In the past few months, Zelda had found a way to emulate a portal with her magic. She says this discovery is her proudest of her studies. She can only keep it open for a few minutes, however. And it's a bit of a distance from the castle compared to the main portal.

Once they neared the portal, Midna would have to telepathically send a message to Zelda, to tell her open the portal. She had already told Zelda about her situation, which was why she offered the second portal. Zelda didn't want her teleporting them from the portal in Arbiter's grounds.

Zelda promised not to tell Link, though.

She hoped that she remembered.

For the meantime, Midna laid across the bench, resting her head on Link's lap. He grinned down at her.

"Hey sleepyhead," Link whispered, brushing her cheek with his hand.

Midna giggled, "That's your nickname, dummy."

Kissing her on the cheek, Link murmured in her ear, "I know."

A smile on her cheeks, Midna nudged her head up against Link's side. Although faint, she heard his heartbeat. Closing her eyes, she let his heart lull her to sleep.

* * *

Taken back to reality with a gentle shake of her shoulder, Midna hazily looked up at Link.

"Who's the sleepyhead now?" He smirked, laughing. "But we're here. We need you to send that message to Zelda."

Slowly sitting up, nodding her head, Midna shut her eyes, folding her hands, mouthing her words as she sent them to Zelda. After she was finished, her eyes shot open - her head aching. She passed it off as nothing.

"Finished!" Midna turned towards Link, a fake smile across her face. Her head really hurt afterwards, but she assumed it was because she hadn't sent a message telepathically in a while.

Midna exited the carriage, Link behind her with the bags, as they began to walk away, the portal opened up right away. Hurrying over towards it, the two entered.

Engulfed by light, they were standing in Zelda's quarters in only seconds. As soon as Zelda had confirmation that Midna and Link were there, she released the portal, collapsing back onto Impa, who stood behind her.

"Welcome," the princess huffed. out of breath and exhausted.

Impa helped her back on her feet as she regained her strength. "It's nice to see you two again." She made specific eye contact with Midna, knowing what was going on. "I'm assuming you'll want to be heading out shortly? I have a carriage being set up outside. Epona is pulling it. It's a small carriage, just for the two of you. You'll have to drive it, Link." She raised her brows at the hero.

Grinning widely, Link nodded his head. "No problem." Turning to Midna, Link spoke, "I'll take out bags out. You can talk to Zelda for a moment… I really want to see Epona, though…"

Midna waved him off with her hand, smirking. "Go have fun, ponyboy." With an excited bounce, Link was out the door, gone in a flash.

Zelda grabbed Midna by the shoulders, grasping her attention. "So, how's the little one doing?"

Midna shrugged her shoulders, pulling at the collar of her sweater. "Eh… okay, I guess."

"How far along are you?" Impa jutted in.

"Around fifteen weeks," Midna replied, flushing red.

"May I see?" Zelda asked, grabbing at the ends of her sweater. After she saw a nod from Midna, she lifted the sweater, exposing the small bump. With a wide grin, Zelda looked up at Midna. "This is exciting! So, when are you going to tell him?" Slowly, she lowered the twili's sweater back down.

"I was thinking tonight." She shrugged. "It's not like I can easily hide it anymore. Until around a week ago it just looked like I had picked up weight, but it sticks out like a typical baby bump now."

Zelda nodded. "Yeah, that'd be wise. Gosh, Link will be excited."

Grinning lightly, Midna nodded. "He will."

"You should probably go catch up with him." Impa pointed out. "He seemed all to excited to ride with Epona again."

Midna giggled, "He is." Reaching out and hugging Zelda and Impa, she whispered. "I'll see you all in a week. Plus, can you tell Eric and Cain?"

"No problem," Zelda agreed.

Pulling away from the other women, Midna bowed, then excited Zelda's study, making her way down to the stables. There, she found Link brushing Epona. she was already haltered up to the small carriage. She assumed Link would be driving, so she had time to finish her nap in the back.

As Link saw Midna, his ears perked. "Are you ready to go?" Seeing her nod, he helped her climb into the back. He watched as she made herself comfortable, hiding under a blanket and closing her eyes. "I'll wake you when we arrive."

"Sounds good with me," Midna yawned.

Grinning, Link climbed atop the driver's seat, taking the reins in hand. Gently, he started Epona off in a walk. He hoped the slow rhythm of the horse's trot would help Midna fall asleep. She seemed tired. Hopefully, they would arrive at the mansion by evening. He wanted to surprise Midna. He had some fun planned in mind that would hopefully please his wife.

They had ridden for hours, Link hadn't realized how far away the getaway was. But in a patch of land, far away from society, there it laid. A magnificent home, with a stable, and a short walk to the ocean. Link had realized, he had never seen Hyrule's ocean. He's seen all the lakes and waterways - but not the ocean. The little kid inside of him was screaming of excitement, he wanted to just run to the ocean to see it for the first time. But that would have to wait.

Leading the wagon into the stables, Link untacked Epona, leading her out to a pasture. Climbing into the back of the wagon, Link saw Midna had not yet awakened. He figured he could take their stuff inside, set up his idea, and then wake her and bring her up.

Finding the room which they would call theirs for a week, Link set Midna's bag next to her dresser - he didn't know how she wanted her things organized, so he would let her do that. As he unpacked his things, Link undressed from his tunic, slipping a robe over his bare skin. With a sigh and grin, he returned out to the stable to get his wife.

Climbing back into the wagon, Midna was still asleep. Link realized she probably hadn't slept well the previous night, he didn't want to bug her, but he also wanted to surprise her. Sitting down beside her, Link tucked his arms underneath her back and the backs of her knees, and lifted her into his lap, where he cradled her. His lips met with her neck as he whispered her name.

Midna felt a kiss at her neck, and hands wrap around her back, and under her knees. She felt herself being pressed against hot skin.

"Midna," Link whispered, holding his wife close to him in the wagon. He watched as her eyes opened and met with his. "We're here."


	12. Chapter 11

**A/N: School's hard right now... sorry this took so long. There's going to be a time jump next chapter so yay :D Also, I have a lot of orchestra stuff and AP exams coming up, and my mental health has gone to utter shit. So next chapter will be slow. I just won't be leaving for like 4 months. Chapters will probably take 2-3 weeks, depending on my time and motivation!**

 **Anyways, enjoy! Read and review, as always!**

* * *

Midna looks up at Link, blinking once or twice before coming to her senses. A flush crossed her face. She grinned and pushed her head into her husband's chest, allowing him to pick her up. With each step Link took, Midna hummed to the little shakes as he held her. She remained quiet until she knew they were inside, and she felt the atmosphere change.

Midna flickered her eyes as Link laid her down on she surmised to be their bed. She eyed him as he laid down beside her, resting his hand on her hip.

"What are you up to?" Midna asked, a sly grin on her face as her eyes remained half lidded.

Link blushed and shrugged his shoulders, raising his brows. "Whatever you want to do, my princess. "

Pondering for a moment, Midna smirked, placing her hand on her husband's chest. "You wait here for a moment," she whispered, rising from the bed. Heading towards the washroom, she grabbed one of her bags, and winked back at Link before hiding herself in the freedom of the room.

Quickly, she undressed, dropping the day's garments to the floor. She was exhausted, but she knew what Link was up to. Untying her bag, she pulled out her favorite lingerie and putting it on. To her, it felt a little tight, but that was to be expected with the coming circumstances.

Staring into the mirror, she sighed at the bump in her stomach, but grinned. She was about to tell him. Bending down, reaching back into her bag, Midna pulled out a loose, rather transparent robe, and wrapped it around her skin. It would hide it until she took it off. She took a deep breath and smiled into the mirror.

Leaving the washroom, Midna silently walked up on Link. He laid across the bed, staring up at the ceiling and cracking his knuckles. With a small leap, Midna hopped on top of the bed, and straddled herself on Link's lap. His face flushed as he was caught off guard. When he met eyes with Midna, he grinned.

Taking his wife's hand, Link whispered. "How about we trade places, it'll work better that way."

Raising her brows and shrugging her shoulders, Midna lightly laughed. "Whatever you say." Slowly, she began to climb off of Link, brushing her hand against him, making him turn red.

Leaning up against the backboard of the bed, Midna spread her legs open only slightly. As Link came forward to her, she reached out towards him, pushing his robe off his shoulders. Raising his brows, Link did the same, pulling his wife's robe off while she pulled off his.

Midna's heart raced as he took the robe off - either he would see her stomach or he wouldn't. She could tell that he saw, but he shrugged it off. He probably only thought she'd gained weight. He would find out sooner or later that it wasn't the case.

Link lowered himself between Midna's legs. He watched as her eyes widened and face flushed - he hadn't done this before. He was nervous as hell. Slowly, he started to kiss the inner of her thighs. And then up further. Her hip bone. And when he was expected to meet with a rather soft stomach - he wasn't. It was hard - unmovable.

Link paused, he could feel the heat emanating from Midna - her face extremely flushed.

"Midna…?"

She only grinned a little bit, turning her head away.

Furrowing his brows and smirking, Link rose a little bit. "Is this what I think..?" His heart began to race. He was hoping he was right.

Midna slowly nodded her head. "You're going to be a dad."

Midna's smile lit up as she watched Link. This was the happiest she's seen him. She watched as he let a few tears flow. Midna laid on her side as Link laid next to her, wrapping his hands around her waist, pressing his ear to her stomach. Midna giggled a bit when she heard him incoherently mumble.

After ten minutes or so, Link crawled up Next to Midna, pulling up the blanket over them. Midna laid her head on top of Link's chest as she knitted herself together with him.

"How far along are you?" Link asked in a happy, yet shaky voice.

"Fifteen weeks." Midna grinned.

"How many moon is that? You know I'm not good with numbers." Link rested his hand on Midna's back.

Midna shrugged her shoulders a slight bit. "About three."

"How many more are left?"

"Six." Midna sighed. "The worst of it is over now. That's why I kept getting sick the past few weeks."

Link nodded his head. "Well at least that makes sense now." He paused. "What is your father going to think?"

Midna sighed, "I don't know, but he's going to have to get used to it."

Link chuckled, "He sure will."

* * *

It was their last night at Zelda's mansion. Midna and Link were out at the waterfront as the night settled in.

"I wish I had known how nice the ocean was," Link murmured, staring out into the waves. "I never knew how nice it was as a kid."

"Maybe we'll have to come back here, then." Midna smirked, inching closer to him.

Sitting himself down in the sand, Link helped Midna lower herself down. She made him rest between his legs, leaning her head back onto his chest. She closed her eyes to the lull of his heartbeat, as he wrapped his hands around her waist.

"Do we have to leave?" Link whispered.

Midna giggled. "Well, we do have a kingdom to look over."

Link shrugged, pressing his head against his wife's. "I just don't want this feeling to go away. I haven't felt this happy in weeks."

Midna nodded her head. "I feel the same way." She gently closed her eyes, leaning her head back on Link's chest. A smile warmed up on her face, only to grow tight as she heard her husband's heartbeat begin to race. "Link," Midna rose her head from his chest, speaking softly, with a taint of worry. "What's wrong?"

He remained silent for a moment, staring into Midna's eyes. With a sigh, he turned his head down, shrugging his shoulders. "I didn't take my meds today… and I'm really anxious about when we get back. Your father… what will he do?"

Midna cupped her hands around Link's cheeks, inching her face close to his. "He will do nothing to you, me, or the baby. I will not allow it. He may not like it, but he's going to have to deal with it."

* * *

Link wouldn't allow Midna to put any of the bags in the wagon by herself. That, however, was only frustrating her.

"Link, I can lift my own bag - it's not like I'm close to being due," Midna groaned. "I'm fine."

Link shrugged his shoulders. "I only want the best for you, my dear." He helped his wife up into the wagon, before finishing tacking Epona up.

Once the mare's reins were all situated, Link hopped up in the wagon, steering his horse to a slow walk. It had been a good hours of driving when Midna came and sat next to Link. She tried to take the reins from his hands.

"Let me drive, go take a nap." Midna wrapped the reins around her fingers. "I'm going to take you somewhere." She realized she recognized the area enough.

Raising his brows and rolling his eyes, Link sighed. "Okay. Don't get us lost, though."

Sighing and shaking her head sarcastically, "I won't, Link."

As he pecked her cheek, Link moved himself to the back of the wagon, filing himself into Midna's makeshift napsack. With a sigh, he shut his eyes, as his wife had told him to do. The beat of Epona's hooves lulling him to darkness.

Glancing over her shoulder, Midna grinned when she saw his eyes shut. She knew his sleep had been sporadic for some time. Turning her attention back to Epona, she crossed her legs and focused on the trail before her. She knew she had to watch for a small creek - when she saw that, she knew she had to follow it back to the Ordon spring.

It was past midday, and the glistening of the creek caught her eye, she slipped a grin. Peering over her shoulder once again, and her husband was still asleep. Allowing a small giggle to escape her lips, Midna turned back toward the road. It wasn't too long until the spring was in sight. Slowing Epona down at the crossroads, Midna debated - she could head to Ordon, and surprise Link, or she could go back to Hyrule castle, as planned.

With a shrug, Midna steered Epona left, further away from Hyrule castle, and deeper into the Ordon province. The smell of goats flooded the area. Midna had thought that the familiar scent that he was attuned to would wake him from slumber. It did not, however. Halting Epona next to the abandoned house, Midna slowly lowered herself from the wagon and began to untack Epona.

Setting the horse free, Midna watched as the mare wandered in the opening, nibbling at the grass. Looking back up in the wagon, Link was still asleep.

Laughing to herself, Midna grabbed her bag from the wagon, pulling out some Ordonian clothes she was given the last time she was here. She put them on, in respect for the community, and to hide her bump. They were a bit big on her, but Midna didn't really mind.

Dressed, the twili began to head into the town, slowly bringing back memories of the place. As soon as she entered the main area of the town, she heard her names shouted.

"Midna!" A familiar voice yelled. As Midna turned to see, she saw Uli approach her, a small toddler in her arms. "You're here! I didn't know you were visiting Hyrule!" The woman paused, and looked around. "Where's Link?"

Midna snorted. "He's still asleep in the wagon."

Uli laughed, "That seems very typical of him." Turning back to her house, she glanced over at Midna. "How about we go inside and talk? We can catch up to something cold to drink."

Grinning, the twili nodded. "That seems like a good idea."

During the short walk to Uli's house, Midna waved to many of the Ordonian residents she recognized. She believed she confused most of them - because Link wasn't by her side.

In Uli's home, the two women sat across from each other on the small chairs in the living place. Both of them having a glass of water, and Uli's toddler, Emma, played with her toys on the floor.

"So how have you and Link been?" Uli asked.

Midna shrugged, taking a sip of water. "It's been stressful, especially for Link. I at least had experience with ruling when my parents were the rulers, but this.. this is completely new to him."

"I could understand," Uli sighed. "And, Zelda sent Link's friend… Eric? I think that's what his name was. Zelda sent him with a message for Rusl and I, I guess because we were Link's adoptive parents. She said you two had an issue with trying to have a child."

Midna's eyes faced the floor. "We did. We're trying to put it behind us now."

"Well that's good." Uli grinned.

"Right now, we're just trying to prepare for the new one." Midna grinned.

Still grinning, Uli's eyes shot open in disbelief, "Wait, what?"

"You heard me." Midna smirked, raising one brow.

Standing from her seat, locking the front door, closing the windows, Uli turned and looked back at Midna. "Undo the middle section of your layers. I want to see this for myself."

Rolling her eyes, Midna untied the robes around her midsection, revealing the small bump.

Uli's eyes were wide, as well as the grin on her face. "How far along?"

"Sixteen weeks," Midna whispered, "Almost seventeen."

Redoing the robes around her waist, Uli took her hands. "If you need any help, with anything, come to me. I'm the town's midwife. I can take care of you too."

Midna's face flushing, she nodded her head. "Thank you, Uli. It means a lot."

Startled by a pounding on the door, both of the women turned their heads to the commotion.

"Uli! Link's back!" It was obviously Rusl's voice.

"I know!" His wife responded. "I have Midna in here!"

A pause in his voice. "Why is the door locked?"

"I was changing, sorry!" Midna yelled out to him. Quickly she walked over to the door, opened it. There stood Rusl, welcoming her with a big hug.

"Link came looking for you Midna," Rusl told her. He came running into town because you weren't in the wagon or his house."

Pulling away Midna laughed. "He was out like a log in the wagon, and I didn't want to wake him."

Rusl shook his head, laughing. "Link sleeps too much."

Midna shrugged her shoulders. "I beg to differ. He has a hard time sleeping anymore."

Looking over Rusl's shoulder, she paused, giggling to herself as she watched her frantic husband run about Ordon. She watched as their eyes met when he eyed Rusl's home. He sighed, grinned, and ran over to them.

"Midna," Link panted, out of breath. "Why didn't you wake me?"

Rusl stepped to the side as Midna approached her husband. "Because you don't sleep well anymore."

With a groan, Link shrugged his shoulders, taking his wife's hand. "Is the gathering this weekend?"

Rusl shook his head. "I'm afraid not, but I'm sure that hearing that you're around will make everybody want to do town supper tonight." Crossing his arms, Rusl eyed a few of the neighbor's houses. "I'll go tell them - you two go get some rest. Honestly, you both look like you could use a nap."

As Link was about to repute, Midna opened her mouth. "I agree with you, Link needs some rest." Taking her husband to the door with her, she smirked. "You know where we'll be."

After a quick and quiet walk through town, Midna climbed the ladder, Link right behind her. As Link opened the door to his small cottage, a wave of dust hit them in the face.

"Eugh," Link mumbled. "Maybe I should clean up a little bit."

Midna shrugged her shoulders. "You go ahead and do that." She bent down and kissed Link on the cheek. "I'm going to go lay up in the loft. My back hurts… You can join me if you'd like."

Staring at a dusty table, Link shrugged, and followed Midna up to the loft. At the top, the two sat on the old bed. Midna groaned and laid on her side. Frowning, Link reached across to a small nightstand, pulling out a long cloth from it.

Unraveling the cloth, Link looked at his wife. "Where does your back hurt?"

Midna glanced at him, sitting up. Resting her hands on her lower back, she nodded. "Here."

Taking the cloth, Link rested it against her back, and wrapped it around her lower waist, avoiding her bump. Once fully wrapped, her pulled it tight and tied it. Holding his wife's sides and she leaned back against him.

Link closed his eyes, burying his face into his wife's shoulder.

"Only six more moons," Midna whispered, allowing herself to conform to Link.


	13. Chapter 12

**A/N: AA sorry this update took a while. School got hectic for a bit. And it still is. AP testing starts this week and my stress level is through the roof.**

 **Anyways, as always, read and review! Thanks!**

* * *

Midna groaned. Everything ached. Her ankles were swollen. And don't get her started about her back. Her back was what killed her the most. Every day, Link would use a bandage to help compress it and support it - but nonetheless did it ache.

Link was finishing tying the compression. When he finished, he felt his wife lean back on him. Holding her sides, he let her rest on him.

"I hate this," Midna hissed, turning her head to face Link.

"I could imagine. I'm sorry I put you through this." Link hugged her tighter, recalling the morning sickness, aches and pains. "At least it will be all be done in three months."

"It's okay. We both wanted this." Midna shrugged. "You have to finish that crib, too." Her eyes remained half lidded as she rested her head against Link's shoulder, shifting her position so she sat on the side of her hip. She enjoyed the comfort of leaning against him.

The warmth of their silence made her off guard when she felt a little jab at her stomach. Eyes widened, she grabbed Link's hand, which caught him by surprise, and put it over the spot. She felt it again.

"Did you feel that?" Midna grinned.

Eyes wide in shock, Link grinned and nodded his head. "Oh my goddesses…"

Midna felt her heart race out of joy. "I know." Wrapping her fingers around Link's hand, she brushed against his calloused, rough skin, before before wrapping his arm around her.

With a small laugh, Link pressed his lips against her cheek before whispering into her ear, "Aren't we supposed to meet with Khina today?"

"And then a council meeting afterward, I know." Midna sighed. "I just want to sleep."

Link shrugged. "I know. So do I." Glancing over at the clock on the all, be blinked slowly. He began to lift himself up, trying to take Midna with him. "We should probably get ready to go. Let me get your clothes."

Midna rolled her eyes at Link as she began to slowly sit up. "I'm not helpless."

Link made sure she stayed seated. "I know, but Khina doesn't want you doing a whole lot. She doesn't you to risk self inducing what happened last time."

Midna groaned. "Well last time I was given medication without knowledge. It's not like it was natural." She rolled her eyes and laid back across the bed. "Besides, I want to at least get moving again. I feel like I'm getting fat."

Link looked over his shoulder as he was grabbing his wife's gowns from the closet. "Honey, you look wonderful."

"So you're not going to deny that I'm getting fat?" Midna raised a brow.

Link shook his head. "Well, no? It's not even much. It's hard to see a difference besides your stomach. Besides, when I asked Khina about what you'd be going through, she said you're supposed to gain a little bit when you're expecting."

Midna just sighed, sitting herself up and resting a hand on her stomach. "I know… I just don't like it."

Closing the closet, Link walked over to their bed, resting her clothes beside him as he sat down beside his wife. "Just think of it as there's just more of you for me to love." In a fluid motion, Link wrapped his arms around her, pressing his face against hers. "And if it is any consolation - you don't look fat."

Midna shrugged. "Thanks."

In a warm voice, Link whispered, "I love you."

With a soft grin, Midna shut her eyes. "I love you, too."

"Now how about you get dressed?"

Midna only groaned loudly in response.

* * *

Midna laid back on the small bench as Khina examined her stomach. She had her sit up, stand, stretch her limbs, weigh her, measure the width of her stomach. Midna made vague eye contact with Link, who stood in a corner, reading a book on pregnancies and having children that Khina gave him.

Once Khina was all finished, she notioned for Midna to sit down. Relieved, she followed the doctor's orders. Link lifted his eyes from the pages and gently began to close the book.

"For the most part." Khina raised her brows. "Your pregnancy is going along just fine."

Midna and LInk exchanged looks, grinning.

"But-"

Midna's eyes reverted back to Khina, her smile disappearing.

"You need to gain a little bit more weight," Khina sheepishly sighed. "Just a few more, like five pounds or so. It's only for the health of the baby, I'm just following the recommended weights for your height and how far along you are."

Rolling her eyes, Midna grumbled, "Fine."

"And to forewarn you, during the last moon or two, I'll want you to be bed bound. After what happened last time, I don't want to risk any complications." Khina looked at Midna dead in the eye.

With a grimace, Midna closed her eyes and nodded. "Okay."

"I'm make sure she does that," Link chuckled from off at the side.

"Also, take that book. Read up on third trimester." Kinha helped Midna stand so she could redress. The doctor made her way out of the room.

After Midna dressed herself, she and Link left in a hurry, thanking Khina on their way out. They had only realized the council meeting was starting shortly, and they both needed to be there. Apparently, there was news from Zelda.

* * *

Quickly taking their seats, the meeting began at their arrival. Midna crossed her legs and grinned at the council.

"I hope you all have had a good moon," she lightly said.

One of the councilwomen in the front nodder her head. "We sure have. And, might I say you look as wonderful as ever? How much longer until the heir?"

Midna shrugged her shoulders. "Only three more moons. But, I don't feel as good as you say I look."

The councilwoman blushed and giggled. "I surely hope you do feel better, my queen." Going through her stack of papers, she pulled out an envelope and rose from her desk to bring it to Midna. "And some good news for you - a letter for both of you from Princess Zelda."

Midna raised her brows, her cheeks flushing and lips curling upward like an overjoyed child's. "Oh? Let me open it."

Curious, Link rose from his seat and glanced over his wife's shoulder as she tore open the letter, pulling out the paper. It was a gorgeous parchment - with lace and beads and sparkles of silver and gold. The lettering written in a fine ink, looking and curling and twisting ever so neatly.

'Dear Midna and Link:

I know you all are rather busy with the expectation of your child. But I would link to inform you of Eric and Cain's day of wed. I am hosting it in my hall. There are only a few invited, due to Cain's identity and safety, and their relationship.

It will be a small ceremony. The 22nd of September. In three weeks.

In accord with this event, I invite you two to the castle two weeks prior to the event. It's been five, almost six, months since we last met and I miss you both dearly.

I hope to see you soon,

Zelda.'

The council sat in their respective seats and watched as the monarchs read through the letter, their eyes widening and smiles forming. "What is it, Queen?" One extremely curious council member asked.

Lifting her gaze from the letter, Midna receptively grinned, lowering the paper from her face. "Well, a good friend of Princess Zelda, Link, and myself has announced his planned marriage with his partner. This was our invitation to attend."

The young council man nodded his head. "That is surely great news! When is their day of wed?"

Link's eyes scanned over the words on the parchment quickly. "Their day of wed is in three weeks. However, the princess has invited us to stay for the pre-wed celebrations, so she is allowing us to stay in the castle." He felt Midna's eyes burn into his side.

The council nodded unanimously. "I assume you'll be going?"

Midna quickly spoke out in confirmation.

And the news of the invitation settled down as the council began to bring up economics and other affairs. Midna was much more knowledgeable on those subjects than Link, such to the point where she took over and he just listened.

It went on for an hour. There was light discussion of Link helping train a squadron of the small, but growing, twilian army. He didn't dissent the idea, but he would rather it not be shortly after the birth of their child. He didn't want to be busy, which would take away time from helping Midna, and spending time with the little one.

Once the meeting ceased, the council filed out, leaving just Link and Midna. The silence went on for a minute.

"Why did you the Zelda was inviting us for 'pre-wed celebrations'? The letter had no mentioning of that," Midna stated blankly. "Why would you say such a thing?"

Link raised his brows and smirked. "Have you looked at yourself? Unless there was an actual reason to go a week before the wedding, they wouldn't allow you to. They wouldn't want to risk your health with how far along you are." Link stood from his seat to help Midna up from hers. Once she stood on her feet, Link wrapped his arm around her waist.

Link shrugged. "Besides, who said there wouldn't be pre-wedding festivities?" His voice hinting at an innuendo.

Midna snorted. "You don't drink enough to get drunk. And I can't drink. I doubt Zelda will drink. I only know she'll take a gin when she's in private."

Link rolled his eyes. "You haven't seen me drunk." The two were walking slowly through the palace, heading out towards the gardens.

Midna's tone dropped to a solemn gray. "But I heard about the time you were."

Link opened his mouth to send back another retort, but paused, the red flushing from his cheeks. Slowly, he closed his lips and remained silent. He continued to lead Midna to the gardens, whey they sat on a bench, surrounded by many flowers native to the realm. Link didn't know their names, but they were an eerie, glowing blue. They shone in their own way.

The whole garden was lit up by the flowers. It was rather dark, a small breeze rustling Midna's hair. Her face was soft and smooth under the dim blue lights.

"Midna," Link whispered. "What do you mean you heard about a time I've been drunk?" The tone of her voice earlier had shocked him, she seemed so serious. From what he remembered, he had never told her about that incident.

"You told me once," Midna knitted her fingers with Link's. "You were rather delirious, sickly. Twas the night the guards found you, shoved you in the jail, and I had to bail you out. I guess you hadn't remembered it after all that commotion."

"Zelda also told me, and so did Eric, but in more detail." Midna took her hand, and wrapped it about Link's head, forcing it to rest on her shoulder as she entangled her fingers in his scrappy hair. "I don't think you've ever realized that incident is the reason you can't eat certain things anymore without being sick for two days."

Link sighed, blinking several times. His inners felt cold now. He just wanted to push that memory to the side. He didn't want to have to bring it up. And yet she continued on.

"I've seen the scars on your wrists and your legs and ankles and sides. I'm not oblivious. I know you don't like to talk about it, though."

"Why did you bring all this up, then?" Link pouted, his voice shaking as he lifted his head from his wife's shoulder.

Midna sighed, followed up a quick inhalation of air. "I know you're scared. I can see it with your worries and actions. I know you're scared. I am, too. But I am also scared about you." Midna turned her body to face Link completely. "I know you're scared you're going to breakdown again. I know you don't want to be the parent like you father was. I know how much you're scared that you don't want to screw up."

Midna only watch as the tears welled up around his eyelids, only for him to quickly bury them in his sleeves as if they were nothing. She rested her hands on his shoulders and pulled him to her chest. "But, it 's going to be okay. If you have a bad day or week it's going to be okay. I'll still love you and so will the baby. You're going to do fine. I know that you're not like your father, and I know you're good with kids. It's… it's all going to be okay, Link."

Link shook against Midna's skin. She read him like a book. He didn't want to worry her with his fear.

"I know you're right," Link whispered. "You're just… really… right."

"I'm sorry I brought it up," Midna softly spoke. "I just… with everything coming up so quickly, I didn't want you enveloped in fear. I just want you to be happy."

Link sighed. "Well, at least we'll get a break when we're in Hyrule." He pulled his head away from Midna. "And … I can be.. Happy." He sheepishly grinned at his wife.

She rested her hands on his cheeks and met her lips with his. Pulling away, Midna grinned back at Link, whose cheeks were now flushed a rosy red.

"How about we go work on that crib?" Midna suggested. "Think about the happy things that are going to come in the months ahead?"

Link nodded as he wrapped his arms around his wife.


	14. Apology

**A/N: Hey all! I know I haven't updated in months. I have to inform you that because of all the negative commentary I had received on this, it has made me lose all interest in continuing this fic. I may work on it in the future, but my will to write for this currently is all gone. I apologize for this. I wish I had the energy to continue this, because I had a full thought out plot. But I don't have the will to write it if I'm only getting negative commentary. You can get mad at me all you want. I don't care anymore, I've gotten yelled at enough because of this.**

 **So, tl;dr: because of a majority of negative commentary, I have lost all will to write this fic at the current point in time.**


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